OWEN 


- 


315oob0  bp  Catherine 


TEN  DOLLARS  ENOUGH.  Keeping  House  Well 
on  Ten  Dollars  a  Week.  i6mo $1.00 

GENTLE  BREADWINNERS.  The  Story  of  One  of 
Them.  i6mo i.oo 

MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY.    i6mo i.oo 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  CO. 
BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK. 


MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY 


BY 


CATHERINE   OWEN 

AUTHOR  OF  "  TEN  DOLLARS  ENOUGH,'1    AND  "  GENTLE  BREADWINNERS  " 


BOSTON    AND    NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY 

(Cfee  fitoersi&e  #reasJ,  Cambribge 

1888 


Copyright,  1888, 
By  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

Att  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge  : 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


THE  author  wishes  to  state  that,  in  the  narra- 
tive of  Mrs.  Bishop's  bringing  up  of  her  chil- 
dren, she  does  not  write  from  theory,  but  from 
experience,  not  only  her  own,  but  the  far  wider 
and  less  personal  experience  gained  from  atten- 
tive observation  of  that  of  others.  She  depre- 
cates all  wish  to  dogmatize,  or  to  impose  her 
views  on  her  readers ;  she  would  not  even  recom- 
mend their  adoption,  where  they  involve  ques- 
tions of  diet  and  health,  without  the  sanction  of 
the  family  physician,  because,  although  not  one 
child,  but  several,  furnish  the  data  from  which 
her  conclusions  are  drawn,  it  is  nevertheless 
true,  constitutions  differ  so  widely  that,  although 
ninety  children  out  of  a  hundred  will  thrive  un- 
der certain  conditions,  the  other  ten  may  require 
entirely  different  ones.  It  is  the  author's  firm 
belief  that  a  healthy  well  infant  will  be  also  a 


2228493 


IV  PREFATORY  NOTE. 

contented  and  good  one,  if  it  has  fair  play  ;  but 
while  the  mother  is  still  helpless,  it  too  often  ac- 
quires habits  which  make  the  first  three  months 
of  its  life  a  torment  to  the  house.  The  excep- 
tions to  this  rule  may  generally  be  traced  to  the 
ante-natal  mental  condition  of  the  mother. 

The  author  does  not  pretend  to  do  more  than 
offer  her  experience,  and  that  of  some  other 
mothers,  to  those  who  may  be  looking  forward  to 
maternity  and  desire  to  inform  themselves  ;  the 
already  experienced  matron  will  very  naturally 
either  agree  or  not  agree,  as  her  own  observa- 
tion may  lead  her. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.   SOMETHING  ABOUT  THE  BABY  ....  1 

II.  SPARTAN  MOTHERS 12 

III.  CHOOSING  FURNITURE 19 

IV.  WHAT  TO  Do? 29 

V.   MOLLY  THINKS  BACK 42 

VL  MOLLY    ENGAGES    A   NURSE  —  A   DOUBTFUL 

TREASURE 51 

VII.   WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS  CRIED         .        .        .65 
VIII.  LITTLE  JOHN  ARRIVES  —  CLOUDS  ON  MOLLY'S 

HORIZON  —  MOLLY  A  WIDOW      .        .        .80 

IX.   MOLLY'S  THIRD  BABY  —  WAYS  AND  MEANS  .  103 

X.  A  LETTER  —  MOLLY  HAS  A  NEW  IDEA  .        .115 

XI.  MOLLY  TAKES  A  HOUSE 122 

XII.  MOLLY   IN    HER    NEW   HOUSE  —  BEGINNING 

BUSINESS 130 

XIII.  MOLLY    AT    WORK  —  BANBURY     CAKES  — 

BOARDERS 142 

XIV.  MOLLY  GOES  TO  THE  WOMAN'S  EXCHANGE    .  150 
XV.   WINDSOR  PIE  —  A  VISIT  FROM  MRS.  FOY     .  158 

XVI.  INCOMINGS  AND  OUTGOINGS      ....  162 
XVII.   EXPEDIENTS  AND  DIFFICULTIES       .        .        .  170 
XVIII.   CHEESE   CAKES  —  COLD    MEAT    PIE  —  COLD 

MEAT  FRITTERS,  AND  OTHER  RECIPES         .  180 


vi  CONTENTS. 

XIX.  PROGRESS — -EXCHANGE  GOSSIP       .        .        .  203 
XX.  MOLLY'S  SUCCESS—  How  WON  —  HER  CHIL- 
DREN'S EDUCATION 208 

XXI.  MOLLY'S  PLANS  FOR  MEG  —  DR.  MILNE  SPEAKS  226 

XXII.  MOLLY'S  DECISION 234 

XXIII.  MRS.  WELLES'S  PLANS  —  MEG'S  DIARY  .        .  244 

XXIV.  KATE'S  VOCATION 254 

XXV.  "ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL"   .  .  261 


MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

CHAPTER  I. 

SOMETHING   ABOUT   THE   BABY. 

"  MRS.  BISHOP,  if  your  child  is  healthy  and 
you  are  as  wise  as  I  think,  you  will  have  little 
trouble  with  a  crying  baby;  but  remember,  a 
baby's  digestion  has  everything  to  do  with  its 
health,  and  that,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  is 
ruined  in  the  first  month  of  its  life." 

"But  how  can  I  guard  against  it,  doctor?" 
Mrs.  Bishop  had  asked. 

"  More  depends  on  the  nurse  than  on  you  ;  but 
if  she  is  a  sensible  woman  you  will  be  all  right, 
and  if  she  is  not,  nothing  you  can  do  will  have 
any  other  effect  than  to  worry  you,  and  upset 
the  child." 

"  Oh,  doctor,  let  me  be  sure  and  have  a  sen- 
sible nurse.  I  had  hoped  to  have  one  who  has 
been  with  Mrs.  Lennox,  but  I  '11  leave  it  to  you." 

"  If  you  have  her,  she  will  suit  you.  She  will 
not  allow  the  baby  to  be  overfed,  nor  will  she 


2  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

destroy  its  stomach  with  teas  and  doses.  De- 
pend upon  it,  the  more  a  baby  is  left  to  nature 
the  better  it  will  be.  Nature  does  n't  need  half 
so  much  assistance  as  people  think." 

And  Mrs.  Lennox,  whose  children  had 
charmed  her,  had  said  almost  the  same. 

"  I  don't  believe  young  babies  ever  cry  from 
temper.  If  they  cry  they  are  uncomfortable,  but 
it  does  n't  follow  that  the  discomfort  comes  from 
hunger,  as  most  people  seem  to  think ;  it  quite 
as  often  comes  from  an  over-full  stomach.  Yet 
your  nurse  will,  most  likely,  tell  you  it  needs 
feeding,  and  if  its  last  food  has  not  digested,  it 
is  given  more  to  increase  its  trouble.  Only  one 
of  my  babies  was  cross.  It  was  the  first.  I  had 
no  experience,  my  nurse  believed  in  anise-seed 
and  catnip  tea,  and  during  the  first  month,  if  it 
cried  after  nursing,  it  was  declared  to  have  colic, 
and  a  spoonful  of  anise-seed  tea  or  catnip  was 
given.  It  was  walked  about,  and  patted  and 
jumped,  and  in  an  hour  if  it  cried  again  it  was 
hungry,  and  had  to  be  nursed ;  but  I  think  for 
the  first  six  weeks  it  never  passed  an  hour  with- 
out crying;  then  I  came  to  Greenfield,  and  old 
Dr.  Price  came  to  attend  the  baby  for  an  attack 
of  some  sort  of  fever,  and  I  asked  him  if  it  was 
a  healthy  child.  He  told  me  it  was  perfectly  so, 
and  I  then  told  him  that  it  was  fretful.  He 
asked  some  questions,  and  said  : 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  THE  BABY.  3 

"  '  It  is  only  the  old  story :  the  baby  has  n't  fair 
play.  Don't  you  know  the  stomach  of  a  baby 
is  n't  much  larger  than  an  egg  ?  and  yet  you  let 
it  take  food  every  time  it  cries,  and  when  it  is 
uncomfortably  full,  you  give  it  sickening  teas. 
Now,  if  you  are  sensible,  you  '11  drop  the  teas, 
and  feed  it  only  at  stated  intervals ;  every  two 
and  a  half  hours  is  often  enough  for  a  healthy 
child  who  can  take  a  hearty  meal,  and  when 
three  months  old  it  will  need  food  only  once  in 
three  hours.  A  weak  child  can  take  very  little 
food  at  a  time,  and  requires  more  frequent  feed- 
ing.' 

"  But  if  it  cries  for  food  "  — 

" '  Oh,  it  will  cry  because  you  have  fed  it  every 
time  it  did  cry.  It  does  n't  want  the  food,  but  it 
likes  the  warmth  and  cuddling  up  ;  but  had  n't 
you  better  let  it  cry  till  it  gets  used  to  the  new 
regimen,  than  to  have  it  constantly  fretting?  It 
will  only  be  for  a  few  days.' 

"  I  followed  his  advice,  for  I  had  tried  the  old 
way  and  found  the  baby  was  unhappy,  and  I  was 
worn  out.  I  fed  it  only  at  stated  times,  and  for 
the  first  week  I  had  a  terrible  struggle;  then 
gradually  the  change  came,  baby  was  content,  it 
slept  as  well  again,  and  rarely  fretted ;  if  it  had  a 
real  hard  crying  spell  now,  I  knew  that  it  meant 
pain.  At  such  times  I  undressed  and  put  it  in  a 
warm  blanket  near  the  fire  and  rubbed  the  little 


4  MOLLY  BISHOP'S   FAMILY. 

limbs  with  my  warm  hand.  Generally  the  un- 
dressing was  enough,  but  in  case  it  was  not,  I 
put  it  in  a  warm  bath,  still  by  Dr.  Price's  orders. 
*  There  are  little  aches  and  pains  of  which  we 
can  know  nothing,'  he  had  said  ;  '  they  may  be 
from  the  prick  of  a  pin,  or  they  may  be  colic, 
and  there  are  other  little  pains  to  which  babies 
are  subject,  for  all  of  which  a  warm  bath  is  cer- 
tain relief.'" 

Mrs.  Bishop's  friends  and  neighbors  were 
deeply  interested  in  seeing  how  she  would  man- 
age with  a  baby.  There  were  many  predictions 
that  her  theories  would  all  go  to  the  winds  when 
the  baby  arrived,  just  as  Mrs.  Somebody  else's 
music  had  been  given  up  and  Mrs.  Other  one's 
painting.  The  peculiarity  was,  that  Mrs.  Bishop's 
hobby,  which  it  was  expected  would  become  an 
unused  steed,  was  so  prosaic  a  matter  as  one 
branch  of  housekeeping  —  cooking ;  and  at  the 
first  glance  it  would  seem  odd  that  the  arrival 
of  a  baby,  one  of  the  household,  should  be 
expected  to  change  its  mother's  views ;  other 
women  did  not  keep  house  less  well  after  the 
first  baby  came.  The  explanation  was  this :  — 

Mrs.  Bishop  had  elected,  when  she  began  to 
keep  house,  to  give  her  chief  attention  to  the 
cooking ;  all  other  work  she  could  pay  some  one 
to  do ;  that  work  she  could  not  get  done  for 
any  reasonable  amount  to  suit  her,  and  there- 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  THE  BABY.  5 

fore,  although  her  husband  had  only  an  average 
clerk's  salary,  her  table  had  been  as  dainty  as  if 
they  had  employed  a  professional  cook. 

When  I  say  she  gave  her  attention  chiefly  to 
cooking,  I  must  be  understood  as  speaking  com- 
paratively. Whatever  pressure  there  was  on 
her  time,  it  did  not  occur  to  her  that  the  dinner 
could  be  less  well  served,  although  the  parlor 
sweeping  might  be  put  off.  But  although,  to 
Mrs.  Bishop,  the  kitchen  was  the  heart  of  the 
house,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  other  part 
was  neglected;  it  was  very  well  kept  by  her 
servant ;  I  think,  perhaps,  there  were  fewer  of 
the  charming  coquetries  women  love  in  their 
rooms  than  in  some  others,  and  the  pretty  trifles 
there  were  —  for  the  house  was  by  no  means 
destitute  of  pretty  things  —  were  not  such  as 
bore  testimony  to  its  mistress's  nimble  needle, 
but  were  rather  the  flotsam  gathered  during 
some  years  of  foreign  residence. 

She  had  sometimes  lamented,  since  her  mar- 
riage, that  she  had  not  persevered  in  doing  fancy 
work  when  she  saw  the  lovely  work  of  other 
women,  until  she  reflected  that  it  was  less  trouble 
to  her  to  make  herself  a  charming  dress  than  it 
would  be  to  make  a  South  Kensington  tidy,  and 
that  she  could  buy  the  tidy  far  better  made  for 
less  money  than  the  dressmaker's  bill  would 
come  to ;  but  she  had  a  thrifty  soul  and  did  not 
buy  it,  so  her  rooms  were  devoid  of  tidies. 


6  MOLLY  BISHOP'S   FAMILY. 

She  was  not  proud  of  the  deficiency,  nor  did 
she  despise  pretty  handiwork ;  indeed,  she  had 
more  than  once  wished  it  would  occur  to  her 
friends  that  she  was  fond  of  it,  and  that  they 
would  make  her  the  offering  of  their  fingers,  in- 
stead of  some  other  things ;  but  when  she  began 
to  keep  house,  or  rather  before  she  began  to  do 
so,  she  had  thought  over  the  matter  of  her  duties 
very  seriously.  Her  husband's  means  had  been 
small,  his  tastes  and  her  own  somewhat  luxu- 
rious, and  she  had  but  one  pair  of  hands ;  they 
would  keep  one  maid,  but  Molly  (Mrs.  Bishop 
was  always  called  Molly  by  her  friends)  well 
knew  that  even  a  small  house  cannot  be  kept  in 
perfect  order  by  one  servant  without  a  good  deal 
of  assistance  from  the  mistress,  unless  the  table 
is  made  a  very  secondary  matter,  and  she  chose 
to  do  what  another  could  not  do  so  well.  This 
was  the  difference  between  her  housekeeping  and 
that  of  some  others.  She  knew  that  many  house- 
keepers scrimped  the  time  from  the  kitchen  in 
order  to  do  what  seemed  more  important  work 
for  the  house. 

Molly  had  passed  her  girlhood  in  France  and 
England  with  a  very  careful  and  sensible  mother, 
an  invalid,  and  there  she  had  imbibed  the  habit 
of  thinking  the  preparation  of  the  meals  the 
most  important,  at  all  events  the  least  to  be  neg- 
lected, part  of  housekeeping.  Her  mother  had 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  THE  BABY.  1 

always  declared  that  the  reason  why  dyspepsia 
was  hardly  ever  known  in  France  and  Germany 
was  because  so  much  more  attention  was  paid  to 
cooking  by  the  housewives  in  those  countries 
than  in  her  own.  This  conviction,  right  or 
wrong,  had  sunk  into  the  girl's  mind,  as  mother's 
words  always  do,  and  when  she  came  back  to 
America  she  had  noticed  that  if  a  housekeeper 
was  hurried,  it  was  the  table  that  suffered.  This, 
once  in  a  way,  would  not  have  mattered,  but  the 
majority  were  always  hurried,  and  some  with 
whom  she  had  talked  had  told  her  frankly,  that 
they  always  got  for  dinner  whatever  was  most 
easily  and  quickly  cooked.  When  young  wives 
had  said  this,  she  had  ventured  to  question  the 
wisdom,  but  was  quickly  silenced,  but  not  con- 
vinced, by  one  declaring  that  she  did  not  make  a 
god  of  her  stomach,  that  her  husband  preferred 
her  to  devote  herself  to  study,  so  as  to  be  his  in- 
tellectual companion.  Another  said,  "  Neither 
she  nor  her  husband  cared  for  the  pleasures  of  the 
table,  —  they  ate  to  live,  and  did  not  live  to  eat ; " 
and  others  protested  their  husbands'  supreme 
contentment  with  old-fashioned  simplicity,  which 
meant,  she  found  invariably,  the  easiest  cooked 
and  the  longest  lasting  food.  What  struck  Molly 
most  was  the  fact  that  the  ladies  who  had  pleaded 
intellectual  reasons  were  very  mediocre  young 
women ;  had  they  possessed  a  single  talent,  she 


8  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

could  have  understood  the  reasoning,  for,  assur- 
edly, a  gift  is  too  precious  a  thing  to  be  neglected, 
but  the  one  or  two  most  gifted  women  she  knew, 
strange  to  say,  seemed  to  nurse  their  intellect 
very  little,  and  to  forget  they  had  a  mind  if  the 
family  comfort  made  calls  on  their  hands. 

"  And  the  worst  of  it  is,"  she  had  written  to 
her  friend,  Mrs.  Welles,  "  they  don't  seem  to  see 
that  it  is  not  only  a  matter  of  enjoyment  or  non- 
enjoyment  of  one's  food,  but  that  it  actually 
means  health ! " 

No,  Molly  found  bad  plumbing,  ill  ventilated 
rooms,  malarious  situations,  were  all  discussed 
and  battled  with,  by  the  very  people  who  could 
not  perceive  that  heavy  bread,  poor  butter,  tough 
meat,  and  ill-cooked  vegetables  had  as  much  in- 
fluence on  the  health  as  any,  or  all  of  these  ;  for 
what  a  man  eats  is  his  life,  just  as  much  as  the 
air  he  breathes,  so  much  so  that  physicians 
tell  us  an  entire  change  of  diet,  say  from  mixed 
food  to  milk  or  grapes,  for  three  months,  will 
entirely  change  our  blood. 

But  then,  these  good  ladies  who  had  souls 
above  kitchen  work  had  not  attended  the  South 
Kensington  Lectures  on  Food,  and  Molly  had. 

When  Molly  began  housekeeping  herself,  she 
resolved  that  whatever  was  neglected  in  her 
house,  it  must  never  be  the  kitchen  work.  If 
necessary,  the  parlor  could  be  shut  up,  and  the 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  THE  BABY.        9 

dining-room  do  double  duty,  the  spare  chamber 
be  given  over  to  dust  and  moths,  but  her  dinner 
table  must  not  suffer.  Aside  from  the  coarse- 
ness of  eating  ill-cooked  food,  there  was  the 
question  of  health.  The  one  ailment  she  dreaded 
for  husband  or  possible  children  was  dyspepsia, 
the  destroyer,  not  of  life,  but  of  all  the  enjoy- 
ment of  life.  No!  rather  than  that  spectre 
should  sit  at  her  banquets,  she  would  dress  like 
a  Quakeress  and  work  like  a  beaver. 

The  parlor  had  not  been  sacrificed,  nor  did 
dust  and  moths  invade  her  spare  chambers ;  for 
Molly  had  found  a  fairly  good  servant  in  a  green 
German  girl  named  Marta,  who  brought,  with 
utter  ignorance,  a  strong  pair  of  hands  and  a 
willing  heart,  but  no  mind  to  speak  of ;  and  dur- 
ing the  few  months  that  Mrs.  Bishop  kept  house 
before  her  baby  was  born,  she  had  faithfully 
lived  up  to  her  resolution.  Many  of  those  who 
had  watched  her  had  said,  "  Wait  till  the  baby 
comes  ;  that  will  make  sad  havoc  with  your  fancy 
cooking,  my  dear.  You  will  be  glad  then  to  get 
a  bit  of  roast  beef  on  the  table  that  will  last  a 
couple  of  days,  and  order  a  pie  from  the  bakery 
like  the  rest  of  us." 

Now,  although  Mistress  Molly  had  smiled,  and 
said  no  doubt  the  baby  would  occupy  much  of  her 
time,  she  had  also  taken  another  resolution,  and 
that  was  to  learn  all  she  could  about  babies,  and 


10  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

whether  it  might  not  lie  largely  with  herself  if 
it  should  take  all  her  time,  or  not  more  of  it 
than  she  could  spare.  She  read,  and  inquired, 
and  talked  to  the  old  physician  who  gave  her 
the  foregoing  advice.  This  was  supplemented  by 
Mrs.  Lennox's  experience.  The  children  of  this 
friend  had  always  been  a  wonder  and  admiration 
to  Mrs.  Bishop ;  they  seemed  to  her  to  combine 
all  that  is  most  charming  in  childhood  ;  they  were 
gay  and  frolicsome,  apparently  unrestrained  by 
any  fear  of  offending  their  parents,  yet  never 
causing  a  visitor  to  feel  that  they  required  re- 
buke. We  all  know  how  irritating  other  people's 
children  often  are,  how  we  feel  we  really  would 
not  allow  this  or  that,  —  the  teasing  to  have  their 
own  way  when  it  would  be  bad  for  them,  the 
squabbling  and  unwilling  obedience  to  parental 
requirements  that  too  often  make  one  feel 
acutely  for  the  mother's  weariness ;  but  with  the 
Lennox  children  there  was  none  of  this.  Little 
rows  among  themselves  they  did  have  occasion- 
ally, for  they  were  not  angelic,  but  their  mother 
was  never  teased,  they  never  caused  one  to  think 
her  weakly  indulgent,  and  yet  no  more  tender 
mother  could  be  imagined.  Mrs.  Bishop  watched 
and  studied  this  family,  for  she  could  not  under- 
stand at  first  whether  the  children  were  of  un- 
usually fine  tempers,  or  whether  Mrs.  Lennox, 
simple  -  natured  and  excellent  as  she  was,  had 


SOMETHING  ABOUT    THE  BABY.  11 

strength  of  character  enough  to  have  brought 
this  about  by  scarcely  felt  discipline.  She  found 
later  that  this  quiet,  gentle  lady  was  as  softly 
persevering  as  the  flower  that  by  its  silent  pres- 
sure uplifts  the  stone  in  its  way.  The  children 
yielded  to  the  quiet  influence  that  encompassed 
them,  unconscious  of  restraint  because  they  had 
great  latitude  in  unimportant  matters ;  on  all 
important  ones  it  never  occurred  to  them  to  dis- 
pute the  mother's  rule.  But  although  she  had 
conscientiously  taken  note  of  all  these  things, 
storing  them  up  to  aid  her  own  inexperience,  she 
found  after  the  baby  was  born  that  she  had  to 
fight  for  her  o^n  way  with  it.  Her  husband's 
mother  had  brought  up  a  large  family,  and  clung 
to  the  old  ways.  The  idea  of  stinting  a  baby 
in  its  food  was  an  enormity,  only  possible  to 
a  "theorist,"  as  she  was  fond  of  calling  her 
daughter-in-law.  Then  when  Molly  insisted 
that  it  should  have  no  soothing  teas  if  it  cried, 
and  not  be  rocked  to  sleep,  Mrs.  Bishop  senior 
lost  patience,  and  prophesied  terrible  things. 
They  did  not  come  to  pass,  but  that,  she  declared, 
was  owing  to  the  child's  wonderful  constitution 
inherited  from  its  father. 


CHAPTER  II. 

"SPARTAN   MOTHERS." 

BEFORE  the  baby  was  born,  Molly  had  been 
careful  to  teach  Marta  how  to  prepare  certain 
meals  all  through  without  referring  to  her.  She 
had  then  written  out  seven  bills  of  fare,  one  for 
each  day,  comprising  breakfast  and  dinner,  with 
light  luncheon  for  any  one  who  might  be  there. 
She  did  not  want  the  predicted  decadence  in  her 
table  to  begin  for  her  husband  directly  she  was 
out  of  the  way. 

She  laughingly  told  him  that  he  must  not  dare 
to  have  any  caprices,  for  Marta  was  wound  up  to 
cook  each  dinner  just  as  written. 

"If  you  suggest  an  alteration  it  will  upset 
the  whole  thing.  If  you  want  to  have  Tuesday's 
soup  on  Wednesday,  that  will  bewilder  her  and 
the  dinner  go  all  wrong." 

"  Never  mind  if  it  does,  Molly.  It  would  n't 
hurt  me  to  go  without  a  dinner  once  in  a  while, 
or  I  can  get  it  in  town." 

';Oh,  I  shall  not  worry  about  it.  I  spoke 
more  for  Marta's  sake  than  yours.  No,  don't 


"SPARTAN  MOTHERS."  13 

get  dinner  in  town,  because  there  will  be  no 
occasion  for  that,  and  beside  it  would  be  bad  for 
Marta  and  take  away  her  sense  of  responsibility. 
She  knows  she  must  rely  on  herself.  To  assume 
that  she  can't  do  so,  before  we  try  her,  will  be 
needless." 

"  Anything  you  like,  Molly." 

When  the  time  drew  near  for  the  nurse  to 
leave,  Molly  began  to  bathe  the  baby  herself. 
She  had  had  a  bath  made  by  the  carpenter, 
which  stood  on  two  cross  legs  (about  the  height 
of  her  knees),  and  a  piece  of  rubber  sheeting 
was  nailed  over  the  top  with  enough  "  bag  "  in 
the  middle  to  hold  the  water.  When  not  in  use 
it  was  folded  and  put  away.  In  this  soft,  yield- 
ing bath  no  unexpected  movement  of  the  child 
could  hurt  its  tender  flesh. 

The  first  bath  Molly  gave  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling, the  flesh  seemed  so  tender,  the  little  bones 
so  soft,  and  the  baby  cried.  Certainly,  it  cried 
lustily.  It  is  true  it  had  always  cried  with  the 
nurse,  so  she  could  not  be  hurting  it.  Her  arm 
and  hand  were  under  the  little  head  and  body 
to  support  it  while  she  washed  with  softest 
sponge.  Nevertheless,  she  was  thankful  to  lift 
it  on  to  her  flannel-covered  knees  (she  wore  a 
large  apron  of  thick,  soft  flannel),  and  wipe  it 
dry  with  soft,  old  damask  towels.  How  nervous 
she  was  for  fear  she  might  not  dry  every  crevice 


14  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

and  fold,  and  yet  afraid  of  hurting  it  by  too 
much  drying.  "Oh,  if  it  would  not  cry  so! 
I  've  heard  of  babies  enjoying  the  bath,"  said 
Molly,  looking  flushed  and  rather  tired  when  the 
last  garment  was  on,  and  the  little  pink  bundle 
in  its  warm  wrapper  was  reaching  out  for  food. 

"  Yes,  ma'am  ;  but  most  young  babies  make  a 
rumpus.  She  '11  enjoy  it  when  she  's  a  little 
older ;  but  a  little  crying  won't  hurt  her,  —  it 's 
about  all  the  crying  she  does  in  the  twenty-four 
hours." 

This  was  true,  whether  due  to  Molly's  training, 
or,  as  its  grandmother  said,  to  its  father's  angelic 
nature  and  good  constitution,  I  will  not  pretend 
to  say,  but  the  baby  was  remarkably  good.  It 
slept  the  better  part  of  the  day  and  all  night. 
This  last  was  so  unlike  the  traditional  baby  that 
Harry  had  asked  with  a  smile,  that,  however,  did 
not  conceal  real  anxiety,  "  This  baby  of  yours, 
Molly,  is  such  an  outrageous  sleeper!  You  don't 
think,  do  you,  that  Mrs.  Watts  doses  it  slyly  ?  " 

"  Harry,"  cried  Molly,  in  horror,  "  I  should 
go  wild  if  I  thought  so !  Oh,  no ;  the  doctor  and 
Mrs.  Lennox  vouch  for  her,  and  the  doctor  says 
it 's  exactly  what  is  natural  for  a  baby  to  do  — 
to  eat  and  sleep." 

"  There  are  very  few  natural  babies,  then,  I  'in 
afraid." 

But  the  young  father  was  very  proud  of  having 


"SPARTAN  MOTHERS.1'  15 

one  so  unlike  the  majority,  and  boasted  loudly 
that  he  had  not  once  been  wakened  by  it,  nor 
did  he  mind  when  some  laughed  and  whispered, 
"  Poppies." 

When  Molly  had  nursed  the  baby  she  laid  it 
down  to  go  to  sleep.  A  "  Spartan  mother,"  the 
grandmother  had  called  her,  in  wrathful  ridicule, 
when  first  she  saw  the  few  hours'  old  baby  laid 
down  in  its  blanket  to  sleep.  But  though  her 
words  had  been  meant  to  sting,  they  were  true 
in  a  way  she  did  not  guess.  To  her,  and  others, 
who  cling  to  the  rocking  and  walking  of  babies 
to  sleep,  the  reverse  method  means  selfish  rest 
and  self-indulgence  at  baby's  expense.  They 
think  —  perhaps  they  reach  the  conclusion  with- 
out thinking  —  that  the  mother  refuses  to  put 
her  baby  to  sleep  in  her  arms  because  she  pre- 
fers to  do  something  else.  The  mother  thus  gets 
rid  of  the  baby  as  much  as  possible.  They  do 
not  for  a  moment  realize  that  it  requires  Spartan 
self-denial  to  choose  this  part ;  that  it  would  be 
far  more  sweet  to  indulge  the  mother  weakness 
which  yearned  to  have  that  tender  little  baby  in 
her  arms  always ;  that  no  luxury  could  be  greater 
than  to  sit  by  the  hour,  hushing  and  cuddling  it, 
and  dreaming  over  it,  watching  even  its  finger 
nails  grow.  Nor  could  they  guess  that  every  cry 
which  she  thinks  she  could  still  with  love  and 
caresses  goes  like  a  knife  to  the  mother  heart. 


16  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Molly  at  least  had  to  use  resolute  self-control 
and  to  remember  that  her  own  pleasure  was  bad 
for  her  child,  to  prevent  her  herself  from  giving 
all  her  time  to  it.  So  far  as  her  own  enjoyment 
went,  it  would  have  slept  till  it  woke  again  in 
her  arms.  Not  to  sleep  with  it  close  to  her 
bosom  was  to  give  up  a  great  luxury,  for  it 
seemed  part  of  herself.  She  lacked  something 
of  herself  when  it  was  not  near  her.  Yet,  she 
knew  if  she  indulged  her  own  yearnings  she 
would  probably  have  a  fretful,  wailing  child. 
Although  she  smiled  at  her  mother-in-law's 
railing,  she  thought,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  how 
true  it  was  that  Spartan  courage  indeed  was 
required  not  to  let  the  tiny  new-comer  become 
the  one  absorbing  sweetness  of  her  life. 

"  It  requires  far  more  love  to  be  firm  than  to 
be  indulgent,"  she  thought. 

There  was  another  point  in  her  baby's  up- 
bringing that  she  had  heard  her  mother  descant 
upon,  and  which  she  decided  for  herself,  and  that 
was  that  there  should  be  no  unusual  silence 
while  baby  slept.  She  had  no  whispering  or 
tiptoeing  round  the  house.  If  the  nurse  or  her 
husband  spoke,  it  was  in  the  natural  voice,  even 
in  the  same  room ;  but  of  course  all  violent  or 
sudden  noises  were  avoided. 

Her  mother  had  often  spoken  of  how  she  had 
accustomed  Molly  herself  to  sleep  through  all 


"SPARTAN  MOTHERS."  17 

the  every-day  sounds,  and  how  her  sister's  child 
was  put  to  sleep  in  a  dark  room,  the  whole 
household  silenced,  —  its  father  not  daring  to 
rattle  the  pages  of  a  newspaper,  and  every  one 
forced  to  creep  about  for  a  certain  time  during 
the  day,  with  the  result  that  every  trivial  out- 
door sound  beyond  control,  an  accidental  word 
uttered  in  the  natural  key,  sufficed  to  wake  it. 

This  again  was  a  subject  of  contention  be- 
tween Molly  and  her  mother-in-law.  "You'll 
ruin  that  child's  nerves,  Molly,"  she  said,  when 
Molly  explained  why  she  did  not  whisper  her 
greeting  at  the  door  of  the  room  in  which  it 
slept.  She  insisted  on  whispering  herself  then 
and  always,  if  the  baby  was  asleep. 

"  I  hope  not.  I  'm  afraid  you  think  I  am  very 
obstinate,  and  that  I  am  victimizing  our  darling 
to  my  ignorant  theories  ;  and  I  know  you  are 
almost  as  fond  of  her  as  I  am,  so  I  want  you  to 
be  easy  on  the  subject.  I  am  not  alone  in  these 
'new-fangled  notions.'  Doctors  who  devote 
their  lives  to  the  treatment  of  children,  ladies 
who  have  spent  the  greater  part  of  their  time  in 
institutions  for  them,  all  testify  to  the  need  of 
regularity  and  "  — 

"Molly!  do  you  compare  my  grandchild  to 
those  brought  up  in  institutions  ? "  cried  the 
lady,  deeply  offended.  "Don't  we  all  pity 
those  poor  little  souls !  Are  you  satisfied  to  give 


18  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

your  child  no  more  affection  than  those  little 
heart-starved  things  ?  " 

Tears  were  actually  in  her  worldly  eyes  as 
she  spoke,  and  Molly,  while  she  despaired  of 
convincing  her,  forgave  her  prejudice  for  the 
sake  of  those  tears. 

"  I  only  wanted  to  assure  you  that  I  am  not 
heedlessly  trusting  to  my  own  ideas.  I  have 
talked  to  Dr.  Price,  and  you  can't  suppose  I 
don't  love  my  baby  far  too  well  to  risk  a  mis- 
take," she  added,  indignantly. 

"  You  are  so  set,  my  dear ;  although  it  is  not 
you  alone  I  blame,  but  all  the  new  ideas,  —  as  if 
the  world  had  n't  gone  on  and  babies  been  born 
and  lived  and  thrived  for  thousands  of  years,  as 
nature,  not  books,  dictates." 


CHAPTER  III. 
CHOOSING  FURNITURE. 

I  WONDER  if  there  is  a  much  more  enjoyable 
time  in  a  woman's  life  than  when  she  sees  her- 
self about  to  enter  a  house  exactly  to  her  taste, 
and  has  the  money  to  furnish  it ;  a  limited 
amount,  perhaps,  but  the  pleasure  of  making  it 
go  as  far  as  it  will  is  all  the  greater.  The  pleas- 
ure may  be  sadly  marred  by  circumstances  which 
to  the  mind  of  the  practical  might  seem  advan- 
tageous, if  you  hftve  had  the  misfortune  to  have 
inherited  furniture,  good,  solid,  and  ugly,  which 
yet  your  thrifty  soul  will  not  let  you  discard ;  or, 
worse  still,  have  been  presented  at  your  wedding 
with  ornaments  and  pictures  that  make  you 
shudder,  and  yet  which  you  will  be  forced  to 
place  prominently  for  fear  of  wounding  some 
dear  artless  giver.  Mrs.  Bishop  had  nothing  of 
this  kind  to  interfere  with  her  pleasure,  and  a 
few  things  to  enhance  it,  for  she  had  a  loving 
husband  who  had  "  builded  better  than  he  knew  " 
when  he  married  her,  and  was  now,  after  three 
years,  only  beginning  to  find  it  out,  —  at  least  so 


20  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

he  said,  —  and  what  could  add  more  to  a  wife's 
happiness  than  such  saying,  after  three  years  ! 
And  now  she  was  going  to  furnish  a  charming 
little  house  ;  not  at  all  a  costly  one,  but  built  as 
she  would  have  wished  had  it  been  done  to  her 
order.  It  was  just  large  enough,  had  a  well 
planned  kitchen,  a  spacious  piazza,  a  garden, 
and  was  prettily  decorated  inside. 

She  had  been  contemplating  her  bliss  for 
nearly  three  months,  and  now  she  was  strong 
again,  the  baby  well,  the  spring  just  at  hand, 
and  the  country  just  at  the  least  pleasant  season. 
So  at  the  end  of  March  it  was  decided  to  spend 
a  month  in  New  York  for  the  delightful  purpose 
of  shopping  leisurely.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bishop 
senior  had  a  very  fine  house  near  the  park,  and 
were  anxious  to  receive  their  son  and  his  wife, 
but  more  especially  the  baby. 

"  I  am  sorry  if  your  father  will  be  disap- 
pointed, Harry ;  but  it  will  be  much  better  to 
board." 

"  He  will  be  disappointed,  Molly,  —  no  doubt 
about  that." 

"  Then  let  us  give  up  the  idea,  for  you  know  as 
well  as  I  do  that  your  mother  and  I  differ  about 
baby,  and  a  month  of  struggle  to  have  my  own 
way,  or  else  a  month  of  changed  habits  for  the 
child,  which  will  alter  its  disposition  altogether, 
I  cannot  stand.  It  would  be  lovely  to  be  in  New 


CHOOSING  FURNITURE.  21 

York,  to  be  able  to  look  for  the  very  things  we 
want  and  not  buy  till  we  find  them,  but  other 
people  manage  very  well  by  only  going  in  a  day 
at  a  time  ;  so  will  we." 

"  Oh,  no,  that  won't  do.  Molly,  you  shall  do 
as  you  like  ;  the  struggle  will  have  to  come,  and 
may  as  well  soon  as  late." 

"  Perhaps  not.  It  is  quite  true  that  to  live 
in  the  sixties,  when  I  want  to  shop  down  town, 
with  a  baby  needing  me  every  three  hours,  will 
be  very  inconvenient.  Then  dear  Charlotte, 
who  lives  in  such  a  central  spot,  we  have  re- 
fused ;  so,  if  you  make  the  very  most  of  that, 
perhaps  your  mother  may  not  feel  angry,  and 
once  we  have  made  our  purchases  we  can  spend 
a  few  days  with  her." 

"  Very  well ;  I  '11  see  about  board  to-day,  then." 

And  so  it  came  about  that,  although  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bishop's  parents  had  so  large  a  house,  the 
young  couple  installed  themselves  in  a  modest 
boarding-house  near  Washington  Square,  where 
they  had  lived  the  first  year  of  their  married  life. 

Perhaps  some  of  my  readers  may  think  that 
Mrs.  Bishop  was  rather  a  remarkable  young 
woman,  but  I  assure  you  she  did  not  think  so 
herself,  which  makes  the  offense  —  if  any  would 
find  fault ;  and  she  would  have  shuddered  had 
any  one  hinted,  which  no  one  who  knew  her  (not 
even  her  mother-in-law)  ever  did,  that  she  was 


22  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

"strong-minded."  If  I  were  asked  to  charac- 
terize her  I  should  say,  if  women  like  her  were 
more  frequently  found,  that  she  was  the  legiti- 
mate result  of  a  nineteenth-century  (the  latter 
half  of  it)  education.  Without  being  specially 
gifted,  she  was  sagacious,  acute,  and  an  embodi- 
ment of  common  sense  ;  and  yet  not  quite  the 
prosaic  little  body  such  qualities  might  indicate, 
for  she  had  a  dash  of  romance  or  sentiment  or 
poetry,  or  what  you  will,  about  her  that  softened 
what  might  have  been  otherwise  a  rather  too  de- 
cided character.  But  although  common  sense 
was  her  chief  gift,  she  had  found  herself  so  con- 
spicuous among  the  coterie  in  which  she  lived  by 
reason  of  it  that  it  required  rather  a  vigorous 
appeal  to  that  gift  to  prevent  her  believing  her- 
self a  genius.  She  was  now  in  danger  of  think- 
ing, not  that  she  was  above  what  the  average 
woman  should  be,  but  that  the  majority  were 
below  it. 

But  although  her  married  life  had  not  been 
one  of  great  ease  or  great  prosperity,  it  had  so 
far  been  entirely  happy,  and  since  the  new  house 
had  been  taken,  and  especially  since  the  dear 
baby  had  come,  her  cup  seemed  brimming  over. 
Sometimes  she  would  sigh  with  utter  content  as 
she  realized  that  she  had  every  wish  gratified. 

Her  dearest  friend,  Mrs.  Welles,  although  a 
very  happy  woman  herself,  yet  could  hardly 
understand  Molly's  joyful  content. 


CHOOSING  FURNITURE.  23 

"  You  must  be  very  much  in  love  with  Harry, 
Molly,"  she  said  one  day  when  the  latter  had 
said,  rather  solemnly,  "  I  am  almost  frightened 
at  having  every  wish  fulfilled  ;  it  cannot  last." 

Mrs.  Welles  laughed.  "  Don't  let  that  fear  be 
your  one  crumpled  rose-leaf.  It 's  your  own  na- 
ture that  makes  your  happiness.  I  know  a  dozen 
women  who  could  put  a  '  but'  in  it.  Harry  is  a 
dear  good  fellow,  but  not  better  than  most  men 
I  know.  Don't  you  think  Mrs.  A.  and  Mrs.  D. 
have  everything  you  have  and  rather  more  ?  but 
have  they  such  an  oppressive  sense  of  their  bless- 
ings, do  you  think  ?  Was  n't  Mrs.  A.  worrying 
because  her  sealskin  was  shabby  and  Mr.  A. 
could  not  spare  money  for  a  new  one?  And 
was  n't  Mrs.  D.  full  of  weariness  because  she  has 
only  one  servant,  and  has  to  be  '  mistress  and 
maid  too,'  as  she  characterized  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  know,  and  wonder  sometimes  how 
they  let  such  little  miseries  worry  them ;  but  I 
am  also  conscious  that  I  have  a  tremendous 
capacity  myself  for  being  unhappy  about  things 
that  would  not  trouble  many.  Just  imagine  if 
any  one  dear  to  me  or  Harry  had  given  us  such 
a  proof  of  loving  industry  as  Mr.  Framley's 
mother  gave  them,  —  a  plaster  Venus  di  Medici 
colored  by  herself,  with  blue  eyes,  golden  hair, 
and  tinted  skin,  and  then  expect  it  to  be  of 
course  the  leading  ornament  of  the  drawing- 
room  ! " 


24  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"  Molly,  you  don't  mean  it !  " 

"  I  do.  I  never  have  liked  Mrs.  Framley 
much,  but  since  I  saw  that,  and  saw  her  painful 
flush  when  she  explained  that  it  was  her  mother- 
in-law's  work,  I  have  respected  her  very  much. 
I  'm  afraid  a  very  bad  picture  would  be  capable 
of  making  me  miserable  if  I  were  forced  to  have 
it  before  my  eyes,  or  else  wound  some  one's  feel- 
ings. And  that  is  what  makes  me  so  determined 
to  think  well,  and  not  to  buy  one  single  ugly 
thing,  or  one  that  we  may  tire  of." 

"That  is  right;  think  what  a  nightmare  of 
ugliness  we  were  all  brought  up  in !  " 

Molly  had  written  down  a  list  of  the  articles 
they  would  need,  and  hoped  to  get  every  essen- 
tial for  a  thousand  dollars.  A  few  months  be- 
fore she  would  have  said  five  hundred,  and 
would  have  said  she  could  furnish  neatly  and 
prettily.  Now  there  was  no  need  for  such  a  low 
limit ;  but  even  now  she  knew  she  must  watch 
all  the  small  expenditures  very  closely  in  order 
not  to  fritter  the  money  away.  Trifles  that  cost 
"only  a  dollar,"  or  "only  five,"  are  the  little 
foxes  that  eat  into  large  sums,  which  melt  like 
snow  in  the  sun.  She  had  drawn  up  a  list  of  ar- 
ticles they  actually  must  have,  and  resolved  not 
to  be  tempted  to  make  a  single  purchase  outside 
of  them  until  they  were  all  bought. 

This  was  all  the  harder  to  accomplish,  perhaps, 


CHOOSING  FURNITURE.  25 

since  her  husband  did  not  second  her  in  this 
economy.  His  position  was  improved,  he  was 
junior  partner  in  his  father's  business,  and  could 
not  see,  as  he  had  three  thousand  dollars  in  the 
bank,  why  she  should  not  spend  double  on  the 
house,  if  she  wished. 

"For  one  thing,  because  I  think  it  will  be 
more  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  house 
to  be  prettily  rather  than  handsomely  furnished ; 
and  then  we  never  know  what  may  happen. 
When  Meg  (the  baby's  name  was  Margaret) 
grows  up  we  may  like  a  larger  house.  By  that 
time  our  furniture  will  have  done  its  duty,  if  we 
do  not  pay  too  much,  and  we  can  refurnish. 
The  money  we  save  can  go  towards  it." 

"  Well,  don't  get  bureau-drawers  that  make  a 
man  want  to  swear  every  time  he  goes  for  a 
clean  shirt ;  nor  get  cadaverous  glasses,  nor 
weak-kneed  chairs." 

"  All  those  things  I  will  religiously  avoid,  in 
fact  have  pledged  myself  to  do  so.  I  forego 
style." 

"  Although  a  woman !  " 

"  Although  a  woman.  Style  and  solidity  do 
not  go  together  under  a  certain  large  number  of 
dollars.  I  seek  beautiful  simplicity  and  strength 
at  as  low  a  price  as  may  be." 

"  May  I  be  there  to  see  when  you  've  found 
them?" 


26  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"  You  will,  dear ;  I  shall  buy  nothing  until 
you  have  approved/' 

Molly  had  already  seen  bedroom  furniture  at 
a  warehouse  several  months  before  that  had  ful- 
filled her  ideal.  It  was  called  Eastlake,  and  was 
made  with  the  severest  simplicity.  The  simple 
lines  were  without  any  ornament,  —  not  a  scroll 
or  button.  Four  lines  of  grooving  ran  up  the 
posts.  Other  lines  surrounded  the  head  and 
footboard,  and  framed  the  glass  which  was  large 
and  square.  The  wood  was  ash,  and  not  a  cent 
had  been  wasted  on  ornament.  But  although 
the  furniture  was  as  low  in  price  as  such  well- 
made  work  could  be,  she  had  not  been  sure  when 
she  saw  it  that  she  might  not  have  to  content 
herself  with  painted  pine. 

To  this  store  she  went  and  found  that  there 
was  nothing  of  the  kind  there  now;  she  tried 
many  others.  Everywhere  she  found  bedroom 
sets  at  lower  prices  even  for  ash,  but  how  sadly 
cheap  they  looked!  Everywhere  she  went, 
cheap  ornament  and  poor  workmanship,  or  else 
high  prices  and  still,  ornament. 

At  last  she  went  back  to  the  store  where  she 
had  seen  the  Eastlake  sets. 

"  Is  n't  it  possible  that  I  can  get  furniture  ex- 
actly like  what  I  saw  here  five  months  ago  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ;  we  can  order  it  again,  if  you  will 
point  out  the  style  in  this  book." 


CHOOSING  FURNITURE.  27 

Molly  quickly  did  so,  found  that  she  had  to 
pay  something  more  than  the  price  she  had  then 
been  asked,  but  gladly  did  it.  She  ordered  two 
sets,  and  one  of  painted  pine  for  the  servants' 
room. 

In  talking  over  the  parlor  furniture,  Harry 
and  herself  had  agreed  not  to  have  any  expen- 
sive stuffed  chairs,  but  three  or  four  rattan  easy- 
chairs,  the  most  comfortable  to  be  found. 

"  Don't  buy  a  chair  that  is  n't  comfortable  to 
sit  in,  Molly.  I  hate  those  stereotyped  parlor 
chairs  that  you  try  to  keep  every  one  from  sit- 
ting in,  because  you  know  they  are  uncomfort- 
able. What  is  the  sense  of  having  a  chair  in 
the  room  of  which  you  are  obliged  to  say,  *  Oh, 
don't  sit  in  that,  this  is  much  more  comfort- 
able'?" 

"  I  agree  with  you.  And  there  are  such  dear 
little  gossip  chairs  now." 

So  the  rattan  armchairs,  stained  of  a  rich 
warm  tan  (which  Molly  saw  in  her  mind's  eye 
invested  with  downy  cushions  of  peacock-blue), 
with  three  quaint  but  very  cosy  little  gossip 
chairs,  and  a  rocker  of  the  kind  that  is  very 
comfortable  but  takes  little  room,  and  whose 
tall,  straight  back  of  twisted  cherry  has  a  certain 
dignity  not  belonging  to  rockers,  comprised  the 
sitting  accommodation  of  the  parlor.  These  all 
cost  less  than  the  usual  half  a  dozen  stuffed 


28  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

chairs  would  have  done  if  well  made,  even  with- 
out covering  ;  but  they  had  decided  that  the  one 
extravagance  must  be  a  broad,  low,  Turkish 
lounge.  When  of  good  quality,  these  are  never 
low-priced,  but  they  are  the  only  really  comfort- 
able kind  of  lounge.  This  was  bought  uncov- 
ered, and  a  lounge  rug  of  oriental  color  and 
fabric  (so  called)  was  bought  to  cover  it.  It 
cost  less  than  covering  of  equally  good  quality. 

For  the  parlor  rug,  a  very  deep  Indian  blue 
was  chosen,  with  an  almost  invisible  pattern  of 
a  blue  that  was  almost  black.  For  this  also  she 
hunted  through  many  stores.  She  had  of  course 
no  special  pattern  in  mind ;  but  a  dark,  oriental 
blue  carpet  without  pattern,  or  so  small  a  one 
that  the  general  effect  should  still  be  blue,  was 
what  she  wanted.  Of  course,  as  she  was  limited 
to  a  hundred  dollars  for  a  fourteen-feet-square 
rug,  she  could  only  buy  a  soft,  thick,  Wilton 
carpet  and  have  it  made.  This  was  excellent  of 
its  kind  and  better  than  a  cheap  oriental  rug. 

For  the  dining-room  and  bedrooms,  however, 
she  bought  Japanese  rugs.  Those  for  the  bed- 
rooms were  exceedingly  pretty,  in  willow -blue 
shades,  and  being  all  cotton  they  were  moth- 
proof. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

WHAT  TO  DO  ? 

"  I  AM  getting  very  anxious  about  Mary.  She 
is  sixteen,  and  I  cannot  see  that  she  has  any 
special  talent  for  anything;  yet  of  course  she 
must  earn  her  own  living." 

The  speaker  was  Mrs.  Lennox,  and  Mary  was 
her  eldest  girl.  She  had  often,  during  the  last 
few  months,  spoken  of  her  anxiety  as  to  her 
daughter's  future  to  Molly,  and  then  the  mat- 
ter had  dropped. 

"  I  know  you  must  be  anxious.  What  does 
Mary  say  ?  " 

"  Well,  she  does  not  say,  that  is  the  worst  of 
it.  But  she  will  docilely  take  up  any  course  I 
decide  upon." 

Molly,  without  any  special  reason,  had  watched 
the  girl,  and  had  seen  that,  although  she  was 
bright,  she  was  not  adapted  to  teaching ;  indeed, 
Mrs.  Lennox  had  wisely  decided  not  to  prepare 
her  for  that  overcrowded  profession  to  which 
every  young  girl  of  a  certain  social  class  seemed 
to  turn.  She  had  not  her  mother's  love  of  sew- 


30  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

ing,  but  was  quite  able  to  turn  her  hand  to  all 
useful  things. 

"  You  know  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that  if 
a  woman  does  any  one  thing  thoroughly  well, 
she  can  make  a  living ;  even  in  teaching,  over- 
crowded as  that  profession  is,  any  one  who  is 
more  thorough  than  the  average  will  never  need 
employment,  although  I  agree  with  you  that  it 
is  the  last  thing  to  choose.  It  is  so  much 
easier  when  a  girl  or  boy  shows  some  decided 
leaning  toward  one  thing.  I  can't  understand 
people  thwarting  their  wishes;  they  might  be 
sure  they  would  not  succeed  so  well  in  other 
things." 

At  this  point  Mrs.  Welles,  Mrs.  Bishop's  in- 
timate friend,  who  was  living  near  her,  came  in. 
Meg,  who  was  now  toddling  about  and  making- 
bold  efforts  to  climb  up  stairs  and  probably  to 
fall  down,  which  it  took  considerable  vigilance 
to  frustrate,  greeted  her  with  a  scream  and  out- 
stretched arms,  and  was  seized  and  hugged  to 
her  heart's  content,  for  Mrs.  Welles  was  Meg's 
chief  idolater. 

"  We  were  talking,  Charlotte,  about  Mary 
Lennox  and  what  she  is  to  do  in  life.  Women's 
work  is  rather  a  hobby  of  yours,  can  you  help 
us  ?  "  asked  Molly,  as  she  made  room  for  her 
friend  on  the  piazza. 

"  I  don't  suppose  so.     My  hobby,  as  you  call 


WHAT  TO  DO?  31 

it,  is  only  on  one  phase  of  woman's  work.  I 
don't  think  it  is  so  necessary  to  find  new  em- 
ployments for  women,  although  that  would  be  a 
good  thing,  as  to  teach  that  women  must  do 
thoroughly  the  work  ready  to  their  hands.  Only 
this  morning  I  read  in  a  London  paper  that 
there  are  hundreds  of  seamstresses  requiring 
work,  and  quite  as  large  a  number  of  ladies  who 
say  they  cannot  get  work  fairly  well  done  except 
at  higher  prices  than  they  can  afford,  which 
means  that  average  seamstresses  do  not  sew  well 
enough  to  obtain  employment,  and  that  those 
who  work  better  than  the  average  have  more 
than  they  can  do,  and  so  charge  very  high 
prices.  If  this  is  true  of  a  crowded  city  like 
London,  it  is  even  more  true  here.  If  we  want 
a  gown  made  we  can  get  it  by  going  to  a  first- 
rate  dressmaker  and  paying  a  first-rate  price ; 
but  one  does  not  want  to  buy  a  charming  sateen 
at  twenty-five  cents  a  yard  and  pay  even  ten 
dollars  to  get  it  made.  A  seamstress  will  make 
it  for  three,  but  unless  one  is  quite  unable  to 
cut,  we  know  our  own  fit  and  taste  will  be  so 
much  better  that  we  do  it  ourselves.  I  have 
never  learned  dressmaking  nor  have  a  special 
talent  for  it,  yet,  if  I  want  a  dress  made  over,  I 
can  do  it  myself  so  that  it  will  look  graceful  and 
not  clumsy.  If  I  plan  it  and  fix  it  and  give  it 
out  to  a  seamstress,  it  may  possibly  give  me  some 


32  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

pleasure,  but  I  have  used  time  that  I  needed 
for  other  matters,  and,  besides,  if  I  must  plan, 
I  would  as  soon  do  the  whole  thing ;  so  you  see 
she  goes  without  the  work,  and  I  keep  money  in 
my  pocket  I  would  rather  have  paid  out.  Only 
this  morning  I  heard  of  a  woman  needing  work ; 
I  inquire,  and  am  told  her  intentions  are  good, 
she  is  industrious,  but  she  cannot  be  trusted 
with  work  requiring  care." 

"  I  can  tell  you  of  a  woman,  Charlotte ;  she 
really  can  plan  and  alter  just  as  one  would  one's 
self.  She  is  a  woman  named  Gibbs." 

"I  am  so  glad  to  know  of  her,  but  I  must 
make  haste  and  avail  myself,  for  I  am  quite  sure 
she  will  not  be  long  without  work." 

"Oh,  I  don't  mean  that  she  is,  she  has  a 
great  deal  more  than  she  can  do  ;  only  if  you 
want  work  done  and  speak  a  week  or  two  ahead, 
you  need  have  no  planning." 

"  Now,  is  n't  that  exactly  what  I  have  said  ?  " 
cried  Mrs.  Welles,  triumphantly.  "  There  are 
several  industrious  women  here  needing  work, 
but  this  one,  who  does  unusually  well,  has  more 
than  she  can  do ;  and,  after  all,  it  is  often  not 
skill  or  training  in  a  sewing  -  woman  that  is 
needed,  only  care  and  observation,  with  the  am- 
bition to  do,  not  '  well  enough,'  but  as  well  as 
possible." 

Mrs.  Welles's  gray  eyes  were  luminous  with 


WHAT  TO  DO*  33 

her  earnestness.  Molly  smiled  demurely  and 
then  said  : 

"  Well,  what  shall  Mary  Lennox  learn  thor- 
oughly ?  Her  mother  will  see  that  she  under- 
stands that  gospel  well." 

"  Oh,  her  mother  must  be  a  much  better 
judge.  What  does  she  like  ?  " 

"  Nothing,  especially,  but  gardening,  nor  does 
she  dislike  anything ;  I  wish  she  did,  it  would 
at  least  be  something  to  avoid." 

"  Then  why  not  gardening  ?  " 

"  Gardening ! "  cried  Mrs.  Lennox,  while 
Molly  looked  wonderingly  at  her  friend. 

"  Yes.  Don't  you  think  florists  get  rich  ?  Is 
there  a  place  in  Greenfield  where  you  can  buy  a 
bunch  of  roses  if  you  want  ?  And  did  n't  you, 
Molly,  write  to  me  Easter  to  get  you  a  few 
lilies  ?  And  only  last  week  I  saw  Mr.  Framley 
carrying  home  a  box  of  cut  flowers." 

"  Oh,  yes ;  if  we  want  anything  but  carna- 
tions, geraniums,  heliotropes,  and  smilax,  in  win- 
ter, we  have  to  send  to  New  York.  Our  soli- 
tary florist  never  has  more  than  one  rose  at  a 
time  in  bloom,  and  rarely  that,"  said  Molly. 

Mrs.  Lennox  looked  thoughtful. 

"  It  is  certainly  worth  thinking  about." 

Mrs.  Welles  was  at  once  interested. 

"You  will  be  a  sensible  mother  if  you  let 
Mary  make  an  effort  in  the  direction  in  which 


34  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

her  taste  really  lies ;  but  do  not  let  her  be  satis- 
fied with  growing  just  what  every  small  florist 
has.  She  must  make  the  subject,  or,  better  still, 
some  one  branch  of  it,  her  study  ;  read  up  every 
good  authority,  and  experiment  for  the  next  four 
years ;  and,  trust  me,  when  she  is  twenty,  she 
will  be  able  to  take  care  of  herself.  And  if 
she  has  real  taste  and  enthusiasm,  she  will  do 
more ;  for  instance,  if  she  produces  finer  flow- 
ers than  the  average,  she  will  soon  become 
widely  known.  It  is  remaining  at  the  dead 
level  average,  and  being  satisfied  with  that,  that 
is  fatal  to  prosperity." 

"I  think,  in  cultivating  flowers,  Mary  will 
not  rest  until  she  produces  the  very  best  of  the 
kind  she  has  ever  seen.  Her  pansies  we  are  all 
proud  of,  and  she  read  in  a  newspaper,  last  year, 
how  to  have  pond-lilies  without  a  pond,  and  has 
been  so  anxious  to  try.  But  you  know  we  have 
very  little  money  to  indulge  our  tastes,  so,  small 
as  the  cost  might  be,  she  cannot  indulge  herself. 
However,  if  it  is  to  help  her  in  future,  the 
money  should  not  be  lacking." 

"  Pansies  are  always  in  such  demand,  why  not 
make  a  specialty  of  them  if  your  ground  is 
suited?  I  always  recommend  a  specialty,  by 
which  I  mean  directing  all  one's  efforts  to  doing 
one  thing  especially  well,  rather  than  dividing 
one's  efforts  up  among  many  things ;  and  it  is 


WHAT  TO  DO?  35 

the  one  superior  thing  that  people  run  after  and 
pay  great  prices  for,  rather  than  the  average  one 
they  can  buy  on  every  block." 

"  Hear,  hear,"  said  Molly,  clapping  her  hands 
gently ;  and  little  Meg,  who  had  been  sitting  on 
a  mat  between  the  three,  apparently  engaged  in 
discovering  the  inner  mechanism  of  a  woolen 
lamb,  dropped  it  suddenly  and  clapped  her 
chubby  hands  in  imitation  of  her  mother,  laugh- 
ing gleefully. 

Charlotte  had  risen  in  her  excitement,  and 
what  she  called  her  "gaudy  hair"  had  dropped 
from  its  usual  confinement,  and  her  manner  was 
almost  fierce  in  her  earnestness.  The  sight  of 
Meg's  gleeful  clapping  tickled  her  sense  of 
humor. 

"  I  declare,  I  'm  '  orating '  again,  as  Cuthbert 
calls  it,  and  this  darling  even  sees  the  absurd- 
ity." She  caught  up  the  child  with  a  gay  laugh, 
and  when  seated  and  her  hair  fastened  again  she 
said  quietly,  "  Molly  knows  how  warmly  I  feel 
on  these  points.  I  mean  the  necessity  there  is 
for  a  high  standard  of  work  and  a  determina- 
tion to  reach  it.  But  seriously,  if  your  daugh- 
ter wishes  to  begin  business  on  a  small  scale  at 
once,  I  would  advise  her  to  make  a  little  money 
as  she  goes  along  by  raising  radishes  and  salad 
to  be  ready  just  when  they  bring  a  high  price. 
I  know  the  people  here  would  be  glad  to  have 


36  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

somewhere  to  send  when  there  is  nothing  to  be 
got  in  these  stores  but  carrots  and  turnips  and 
canned  things ;  and  the  Woman's  Exchange  in 
New  York  will  take  early  radishes,  lettuce,  coun- 
try butter,  honey,  provided  they  are  all  better 
than  the  average,  and  I  am  sure  they  would  take 
cut  flowers  in  time." 

"  I  am  almost  inclined  to  go  into  the  kitchen 
garden  business  myself,"  said  Mrs.  Lennox, 
laughing,  as  she  rose  and  folded  her  work. 
"  Now  I  am  going  to  tell  Mary  all  I  have  heard. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  she  will  listen  with  a 
good  deal  more  heart  than  to  anything  we  have 
yet  mooted  to  her." 

"  Give  my  love  to  her,  and  tell  her  if  her  pan- 
sies  beat  Spink's  "  (Spink  was  the  solitary  Green- 
field florist),  "  I  '11  be  a  good  customer  ;  if  they 
don't,  I  '11  none  of  them.  Oh,  and  tell  her  if 
she  starts  her  pond-lilies,  I  '11  get  her  some  bulbs 
of  the  famous  Boston  pink  lilies  which  no  one 
can  buy." 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  said  Mrs.  Lennox. 
"  I  am  really  almost  sanguine  myself  that  she 
may  succeed." 

"  Molly,"  said  Charlotte,  after  Mrs.  Lennox 
had  gone,  "I  've  come  to  lunch,  and  I'm  awfully 
hungry.  I  always  am  when  I  come  here,  be- 
cause I  'm  sure  to  find  the  unexpected." 

"You   will,   this   morning,   in   the   shape   of 


WHAT  TO  DO?  37 

scraps.  There  is  cold  veal,  a  little  cold  white- 
fish  which  I  told  Marta  to  warm  up  with  the 
cold  drawn  butter  and  an  egg  beaten  in  it,  and, 
of  course,  there  's  lettuce." 

"  Why,  that 's  quite  a  swell  lunch." 

"  Well,  the  fish  is  n't  enough  for  two  hungry 
people  ;  there  was  n't  more  than  two  or  three 
tablespoonfuls,  but  if  you  '11  make  some  mayon- 
naise, we  '11  improve  the  veal  into  a  salad." 

Molly  perceived  Marta  at  the  corner  of  the 
piazza  making  signs  to  her. 

"  Lunch  is  ready,  I  have  no  doubt,  and  Marta 
is  wondering  how  we  are  going  to  manage,  or 
whether  I  will  dare  to  ask  you  to  divide  a  spoon- 
ful of  picked-up  fish  with  me ;  she  will  never 
get  used  to  '  pot  luck.'  We  '11  relieve  her  mind 
at  once." 

They  went  into  the  cool  and  pretty  dining- 
room.  Annie  carried  Meg  away  to  be  made 
neat,  and  Mrs.  Welles,  seeing  the  high  chair, 
said,  as  she  prepared  to  make  the  mayonnaise, 
"  Have  you  promoted  Meg  to  appear  at  table  ?  " 

"Yes,  she  sits  very  quietly,  and  if  she  has 
her  little  meal  by  me  I  see  the  way  she  eats.  I 
don't  want  her  to  form  slobbering  habits,  and  she 
begins  to  handle  a  spoon  quite  well ;  of  course, 
Annie  or  I  are  ready  to  help  her  in  case  of  dif- 
ficulty." 

As  she  spoke,  Molly  was  shaving  the  veal  in 


38  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

tiny  little  slices  with  the  carving-knife,  which 
was  always  kept  sharp  as  a  razor,  and  as  they 
curled  up  over  her  knife  she  dropped  them  into 
the  center  of  the  dish  of  lettuce  ;  when  there 
was  quite  a  little  heap  she  seasoned  it  with  salt 
and  pepper,  and  when  Mrs.  Welles  had  the 
mayonnaise  ready  she  spread  it  over  the  meat, 
and  the  veal  salad,  almost  equal  to  chicken,  was 
made. 

When  they  were  seated,  and  Meg  had  her  lit- 
tle chop  and  baked  potato,  which  Annie  cut  very 
fine  for  her,  Mrs.  Welles  said,  "You  ought  to 
get  Meg  one  of  those  nice  little  trays  that  come 
nowadays  for  children.  I  will  get  her  one." 

"  Oh,  please  don't.  Meg  is  to  learn  to  eat  so 
cleanly  that  she  will  not  need  it.  My  mother 
used  to  say  such  things  as  bibs  and  trays  pro- 
longed the  time  of  untidy  feeding,  because  one 
is  unconsciously  less  watchful  if  the  bib  only  is 
soiled  or  the  tray,  and  the  child  soon  knows  it 
must  not  soil  frock  or  pinafore,  while  the  bib  is 
only  put  on  to  be  soiled.  Annie,  too,  will  be 
more  careful  in  not  letting  her  drop  food  if  it  is 
to  fall  on  cloth  or  dress." 

"  But  until  she  does  learn  ?  " 

"Well,  you  will  see  she  really  makes  very 
little  mess.  If  she  has  broth  or  soup,  Annie 
steadies  the  spoon  ;  the  same  with  oat-meal  por- 
ridge or  mush.  Her  clean  pinafore  is  not  put 


WHAT  TO  DOf  39 

on  till  after  lunch,  for  the  present,  and  if  the 
table-cloth  suffers,  a  napkin  is  put  on  just  as  if 
I  or  Harry  made  a  spot.  There  is  one  under  her 
plate  now." 

"  Well,  Molly,  there  may  be  something  in 
what  you  say,  but  I  'm  afraid  I  should  prefer 
bibs." 

Meg  did  eat  very  neatly.  There  was  a  small 
collection  of  potato  crumbs  on  the  cloth  round 
her  and  a  little  milk  on  her  pinafore,  which 
Molly  pointed  out  to  her,  but  with  a  little 
shocked  look  that,  baby  as  she  was,  she  under- 
stood ;  she  also  shook  her  head  and  deplored  the 
mess. 

Mrs.  Welles  had  always  laughed  heartily  at 
Molly's  "  training  the  baby,"  but  she  had  looked 
with  pleasure  at  the  handling  of  the  spoon.  She 
had  fully  expected  to  see  her  turn  it  bowl  up- 
wards long  before  it  reached  her  mouth,  but  gen- 
erally it  arrived  at  its  goal  with  all  its  contents. 
When  it  was  in  danger  of  capsizing,  Annie  gave 
just  enough  aid  to  prevent  it,  and  with  spoon 
food  this  support  was  given  to  every  mouthful. 

"  And  do  you  go  through  that  little  perform- 
ance of  deploring  the  mess  every  day,  Molly  ?  " 
asked  Charlotte,  after  Meg  had  gone  to  have  her 
slip  changed. 

"  Yes,  almost.  Meg  and  I  mourn  over  it  to- 
gether, but  the  idea  is  well  grounded  in  her  lit- 


40  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

tie  mind  already  that  great  care  is  to  be  taken, 
and  when  a  big  accident  happens,  or  there  is 
more  mess  than  usual,  we  both  make  a  great 
time  over  it." 

"  Yet  it  really  seems  to  me  that  if  you  were 
to  let  Annie  feed  her  for  a  year  or  so,  you  would 
have  no  mess  at  all." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  should  ;  in  fact,  there  would  be 
rather  more  of  it.  You  notice  how  many  chil- 
dren who  are  fed  will  turn  away  their  heads  to 
look  at  something  just  as  the  spoon  is  close  to 
their  mouths.  I  know  one  little  boy  at  four 
years  old  who  has  a  devoted  nurse ;  his  attention 
is  never  fixed  on  what  he  eats,  everything  attracts 
him,  and  the  spoon  follows  his  movements,  so 
that  wherever  his  mouth  happens  to  be,  there  is 
the  spoon  ready  to  pop  into  it. 

"  That,  of  course,  is  an  extreme  case.  All  I 
mean  is,  that  if  a  child  is  allowed  to  handle  a 
spoon  herself,  or  with  such  slight  aid  as  makes 
her  believe  she  is  doing  so,  her  mental,  or,  per- 
haps, at  such  an  age,  one  might  say  her  '  instinc- 
tive,' act  and  her  manual  one  help  each  other. 
Of  course  I  may  be  all  wrong.  One  can't  argue 
from  experience  with  one  child.  Meg  may  be 
unusually  quick  in  using  her  hands,  only  I  must 
tell  you  Mrs.  Lennox  says  at  two  and  a  half 
years  old  her  children  fed  themselves  neatly 
without  assistance." 


WHAT  TO  DO?  41 

"  Did  she  use  bibs  ?  " 

"  No,  she  had  trays,  but  no  feeding  bib,  and 
says  she  is  quite  sure  the  tray  hindered  habits 
of  neatness ;  there  was  no  special  care  to  avoid 
slopping  the  tray. 

"  I  expect,  with  Meg,  to  have  a  few  accidents, 
to  have  a  few  extra  napkins  and  cloths  soiled, 
for  a  few  months,  and  once  in  a  while,  I  sup- 
pose, an  extra  slip,  but  you  know  they  are  not 
trimmed,  so  they  add  little  to  the  work,  and  I 
am  sure  she  will  eat  neatly  much  quicker  if  we 
are  all  on  our  guard,  than  if  we  give  her  bib  and 
tray  and  take  little  notice  of  mishaps." 


CHAPTER  V. 

MOLLY   THINKS    BACK. 

ME.  and  Mrs.  Bishop  had  been  two  years  in 
their  new  home,  and  had  enjoyed  a  very  happy, 
bright,  and  prosperous  time,  to  which  every  day 
seemed  to  bring  new  pleasure.  Meg  was  devel- 
oping very  pretty  ways,  began  to  make  odd  little 
speeches,  and  was  altogether  a  wonder  and  de- 
light to  her  parents.  But  through  all  this  joy 
Molly  had  been  uneasily  conscious  of  a  crumpled 
rose  leaf.  She  had  said,  when  Mr.  Bishop's 
means  were  unexpectedly  increased,  that  they 
would  not  change  their  mode  of  living  except  so 
far  as  keeping  a  nurse  made  a  change.  She  had 
then  added  nurse's  wages  and  cost  of  board  to 
her  former  estimate,  and  also  the  expense  of  gas, 
which  in  the  new  house  would  take  the  place 
of  kerosene,  and  a  considerable  increase  in  the 
cost  of  fuel;  for,  although  the  house  they  now 
had  was  not  large,  it  would  take  nearly  twice 
as  much  fuel  to  heat  it  as  the  little  cottage  in 
which  they  had  spent  their  first  months  of  house- 
keeping, where  there  was  but  just  room  in  the 


MOLLY  THINKS  BACK.  43 

hall  for  a  stove  which  tempered  the  air  of  the 
whole  house  and  made  the  large  fires  in  the  rooms 
little  necessary  except  on  very  cold  days.  But 
in  the  new  house  there  was  the  furnace,  which 
burned  more  coal  itself  than  all  the  fires  in  the 
cottage,  and  seemed  only  just  sufficient  to  keep 
the  large  hall  and  staircase  and  dining-room 
warm.  In  cold  weather  they  still  needed  a  par- 
lor fire  and  two  up-stairs,  besides  the  kitchen. 

However,  these  were  the  legitimate  expenses 
of  occupying  a  house  built  on  a  much  larger 
scale ;  but  Molly  had  awakened,  at  the  end  of 
the  first  year  in  the  house,  to  the  fact  that  their 
expenses  had  doubled.  The  first  year  Molly 
kept  house  she  had  kept  rigid  account ;  but  the 
baby  came,  and  for  three  months  after  it  had 
not  seemed  so  necessary,  as  they  were  going  into 
the  new  house,  and  she  knew  exactly  what  she 
would  spend ;  but  after  settling  down  with  so  in- 
experienced a  nurse,  it  had  been  very  easy  to 
drift  along  from  week  to  week  and  month  to 
month  without  the  accounts.  Harry  had  been 
to  blame,  partly,  for  when  she  had  expressed  re- 
gret for  her  negligence  and  declared  her  inten- 
tion of  turning  over  a  new  leaf  at  once,  he  would 
say: 

"  My  dear  girl,  I  would  n't.  You  know  what 
you  spend.  Pay  your  butcher  and  grocer  once 
a  week  ;  keep  an  eye  on  their  accounts.  You 


44  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

get  the  gas,  coal,  and  milk  bills,  and  really,  in 
such  a  small  way  of  living  as  ours,  the  accounts 
almost  keep  themselves.  We  are  not  now  lim- 
ited to  a  dollar  or  two.  While  I  had  a  stated 
salary  and  five  dollars  a  month  expended  beyond 
a  certain  sum  meant  debt,  and  before  many  such 
-months,  disaster,  it  was  all  very  necessary,  but 
now  the  few  dollars,  more  or  less,  will  not  ruin 
us." 

Molly  shook  her  head.  She  knew  his  reason- 
ing, though  kind,  since  he  thought  of  her  ease 
and  pleasure,  was  not  sound,  but  she  allowed 
herself  to  drift.  Meg  was  very  enticing ;  she 
knew  the  child  did  not  really  prevent  her  doing 
anything  that  she  had  formerly  done,  but  it  is 
much  easier  to  leave  undone  than  to  do. 

For  some  little  time  before  Meg  was  born, 
and,  necessarily,  some  time  after,  she  had  given 
up  going  to  market  herself.  The  butcher  called 
for  orders,  as  he  did  on  nearly  all  the  neighbors. 
At  first  her  orders  had  been  carefully  and  ex- 
actly attended  to,  and  though  she  felt  she  lost 
much  by  not  being  able  to  take  advantage  of  the 
market  as  she  could  by  seeing,  she  yet  submitted 
to  the  inevitable.  But  somehow  the  habit  of 
personal  marketing  had  never  been  taken  up 
again.  She  had  not  gone  with  Harry  every 
morning  to  the  depot  after  Meg  was  born  ;  not 
because  she  could  n't  do  it,  for  Marta  would 


MOLLY   77/AVA'S  BACK.  45 

always  attend  to  the  baby,  even  before  Annie 
canie,  but  because  it  did  require  some  little  reso- 
lution. Though  Molly  was  anything  but  a  self- 
indulgent  or  indolent  woman,  when  duty  was 
plain  to  her,  she  yet  easily  strayed  away  from 
the  narrow  path  in  which  she  forced  herself  to 
walk  where  need  was  evident,  into  broader  and 
more  flowery  ways,  and  took  no  heed  of  her 
steps. 

But  now,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  a  little 
thing,  only  reading  in  a  newspaper  how  much  a 
mother  had  saved  for  her  child  by  putting  away 
five  cents  every  day  from  the  time  she  was  born 
until  she  was  twenty-one,  aroused  her.  It  did 
not  touch  her  own  experience  at  all,  but  it  set 
her  thinking,  and  when  Harry  had  eaten  his  din- 
ner that  evening  and  had  lighted  his  cigar  she 
said  with  an  unusually  grave  air,  for  Molly  was 
something  of  a  laughing  philosopher  and  seldom 
very  grave : 

"  Harry,  are  you  too  tired  to  talk  seriously  a 
little  while?"  — 

He  looked  at  her  in  surprise. 

"  My  dear  Molly,  of  course  not.  Am  I  ever 
too  tired,  and  don't  I  always  talk  seriously  ?  " 

"  You  are  not  doing  so  now,"  Molly  retorted. 
"  However,  I  want  to  ask  you  one  thing  :  do  you 
think  we  live  very  much  better  than  we  did  in 
the  AVinston  cottage  ?  " 

"  No,  I  don't." 


46  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"  Well,  we  spend  a  hundred  dollars  a  month 
more  than  we  did  there." 

"  I  know  it,  and  have  wondered,  but  I  said 
nothing,  for  we  are  well  within  my  income,  and 
I  think  you  have  an  easier  time." 

"  I  discover  what  I  have  before  suspected,  and 
that  is,  that  I  am  naturally  a  very  easy-going 
and  indolent  person.  The  last  two  years  I  have 
been  negligent.  I  spent  this  afternoon  in  going 
over  my  bills  to  find  the  leak,  but  I  cannot  put 
my  finger  on  any  one  thing,  yet,  in  one  month, 
I  easily  found  fifteen  dollars  in  mere  trifles  that 
we  should  have  done  without,  and  been  quite  as 
well  without,  when  we  were  living  within  a  cer- 
tain limit." 

"  But,  my  dear,  we  only  do  as  our  neighbors 
do,  and  there  is  no  need  of  living  within  the 
same  severe  limit.  I  don't  believe  there  is 
waste." 

"  Well,  the  fact  is,  I  am,  perhaps,  very  greedy, 
but  I  must  say  I  like  to  enjoy  all  I  can  afford. 
But  we  are  not  enjoying  ourselves  to  the  extent 
of  a  hundred  dollars  a  month.  When  we  came 
to  this  house  I  doubled  our  coal  bill  in  my  own 
mind,  thought  of  Annie,  in  fact,  added  five  hun- 
dred a  year  to  our  expenses,  and  if  I  had  done 
in  this  house  as  I  did  in  the  other,  that  is  to  say, 
if  every  scrap  of  food  had  passed  under  my  eye, 
it  would  have  sufficed,  and  we  should  apparently 


MOLLY   THJXKS  BACK.  47 

have  lived  as  well  as  now,  because  I  have  really 
been  economical.  I  mean  I  have  not  ordered 
the  things  I  would  have  liked  many  times,  be- 
cause of  the  expense.  Now  if  we  are  to  spend 
fifty  dollars  a  month  more  than  needful,  let  us 
do  it  knowingly  and  enjoyingly." 

"  Nonsense,  Molly ;  really  two  thousand  a  year 
is  very  little  to  spend,  living  as  we  do,  for  we 
have  two  servants  and  every  comfort." 

"  I  don't  care ;  if  I  return  to  my  old  ways, 
you  '11  see  either  that  we  have  a  good  many  little 
luxuries  we  do  without  now,  or  we  will  have 
money  saved.  I  don't  mean  to  say  that  there 
has  been  extravagance,  but  the  best  has  not  been 
made  of  things.  There  is  no  sense,  for  instance, 
in  paying  twenty-eight  cents  a  pound  for  veal, 
as  I  find  by  this  week's  bill  it  is,  when,  by  wait- 
ing three  weeks,  the  very  same  meat  will  be  only 
eighteen  cents.  I  forgot  to  ask  the  man  the 
price  of  veal,  and  although  in  May  it  is  usually 
the  cheapest  meat,  it  is,  this  year,  very  dear. 
Then  I  see,  during  the  past  year,  I  have  bought 
chickens  at  twenty-five  cents  a  pound.  It  is  not 
a  very  terrible  extravagance,  and  yet  there  is 
just  the  difference  between  good  and  bad  man- 
agement. I  am  willing,  for  a  treat,  to  pay  forty 
cents  a  pound  for  a  broiler,  but  I  want  to  feel 
while  doing  it  that  I  really  am  having  a  luxury." 

Harry  laughed  heartily. 


48  MOLLY  £ /SHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"  I  confess  I  do  not  see  the  difference,  Molly." 

"  I  do.  I  have  heard  numbers  of  English 
and  Americans  wonder  where  the  French  of 
small  means  find  the  money  for  things  that  they, 
who  are  much  richer,  can't  afford.  A  French 
family  can  oftener  go  to  the  opera,  or  dine  at  a 
first-rate  restaurant,  or  hire  a  carriage,  than  peo- 
ple of  much  larger  incomes.  But  it  is  just  be- 
cause they  do  their  extravagance  deliberately, 
and  enjoy  it  to  the  full.  Now  I  am  going  to 
turn  over  a  new  leaf,  and  once  more  see  to  every- 
thing myself ;  above  all,  I  shall  go  to  market." 

"Well,  but  can't  you  shut  down  on  some- 
thing ?  If  Marta  slings  things,  tell  her  you  will 
not  have  it.  Don't  make  a  slave  of  yourself." 

"  I  don't  mean  to  do  that,  I  never  did  yet ; 
and  poor  Marta  does  not  '  sling  things,'  as  you 
call  it ;  and  there  is  absolutely  no  one  special 
thing  to  'shut  down  on,'  only  things  are  not 
made  to  go  just  as  far  as  they  will.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  say  just  where  retrenchment  may  come 
in,  but  it  is  in  every  single  thing,  probably." 

Molly  was  as  good  as  her  word,  and  the  next 
morning  she  started  to  market.  In  after-years 
she  wondered  at  herself.  How  could  she  possi- 
bly have  managed  without  seeing  the  meat  she 
wanted  before  it  was  cut  ?  Why  had  she  drifted 
into  shirking  (for  that  was  the  uncompromising 
word  she  used)  a  duty  that  she  after  all  enjoyed 


MOLLY  THINKS  BACK.  49 

when  she  set  about  it.  It  may  as  well  be  said 
here  that  Molly  never  again  slipped  back  into 
an  easy-going  acquiescence.  The  shock  of  find- 
ing (once  she  roused  herself  to  the  task  of  exam- 
ination) that  money  could  so  sift  away  and  leave 
so  little  trace,  that  with  an  economy  that  re- 
fused self-indulgence  on  many  little  points,  there 
yet  should  have  been  so  much  spent  in  avoidable 
trifles,  had  startled  her  so  that  never  again  did 
she  backslide. 

Mrs.  Welles  had  remonstrated  on  her  severity 
to  herself,  reminding  her  that  two  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year  was  a  very  moderate  amount,  and 
that  they  got  quite  as  much  out  of  it  as  most 
people. 

"  Yes,  Charlotte,  that  is  very  true,  but  unfor- 
tunately, you  see,  I  can,  by  using  time  which  I 
have  abundance  of,  make  the  money  go  half  as 
far  again,  and  not  to  do  it  is  certainly  to  wrap 
my  one  small  talent  in  a  napkin." 

In  the  days  of  her  misfortunes  how  thankful 
she  was  to  remember  that,  once  having  seen  the 
line  of  her  duty,  she  followed  it ;  that  she  had 
not  to  reproach  herself  with  continued  negli- 
gence. 

But  the  night  that  she  decided  to  turn  over  a 
new  leaf  she  made  her  resolutions  at  Meg's  bed- 
side. It  was  her  custom  to  hear  her  prayers, 
and  then  to  tell  her  some  little  story  or  verses 


50  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

before  she  left  the  room.  This  evening,  however, 
after  she  hacl  heard  her  prayers  and  tucked  her 
up,  she  sat  silent  for  a  minute  thinking,  when 
Meg  brought  her  to  herself  by  saying,  as  she 
snugly  settled  herself : 

"  More  cock-robin  prayers,  peas,  mamma." 
Molly  looked  at  the  rosy  little  one  for  a  mo- 
ment puzzled,  then  she  laughed,  for  she  under- 
stood that,  to  Meg,  prayers  and  stories  were  all 
one. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MOLLY   ENGAGES   A   NURSE  —  A   DOUBTFUL 
TREASURE. 

IT  will  be  needless  to  tell  the  friends  of  Molly 
Bishop  that  no  part  of  her  furnishing  interested 
her  more  than  her  kitchen.  To  have  every 
needful  thing,  and  not  one  useless  one,  was  what 
she  studied.  I  wish  space  would  allow  me  to 
describe  the  cosy  kitchen,  but  that  I  cannot  do, 
yet  I  will  say  that  as  it  was  small,  corner  closets 
of  pine  were  put  up  at  convenient  height  to 
hold  articles  that  would  not  be  often  used,  and 
encumber  the  kitchen  closet  —  such  as  fruit  jars, 
etc. ;  these  took  no  floor  space.  Over  the 
kitchen  table  was  a  broad  shelf,  well  out  of  the 
way  of  anything  that  might  be  standing  on  it, 
yet  within  easy  reach,  on  which  to  set  any  fin- 
ished articles  and  those  that  would  be  wanted 
too  soon  to  warrant  them  being  carried  to  the 
safe,  etc.  In  her  search  for  furniture,  Molly 
had  found  an  old-fashioned,  gay-colored  hearth 
rug,  very  cheap,  because,  although  so  out  of  date, 
it  was  of  good  make.  This  she  had  bought  to 


52  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

lay  before  the  table  when  work  was  done,  and 
a  bright  red,  ingrain  table-cover  gave  a  cosy, 
homelike  look  to  the  room.  She  would  have 
liked  a  small  rocker  for  Marta's  comfort,  but  in  a 
sixteen  by  sixteen  kitchen  such  a  thing  would  be 
a  perpetual  stumbling-block.  She  got,  instead,  a 
folding  chair,  with  carpet  back  and  seat,  that 
was  easier  for  sewing  than  the  ordinary  kitchen 
chair. 

When  all  the  delightful  fuss  of  purchasing 
and  settling  down  was  over,  Molly  had  to  think 
of  the  nurse  that  their  means  now  justified  her 
in  having.  It  had  been  a  subject  of  much  com- 
ment among  her  friends,  and  some  ridicule  on 
the  part  of  her  mother-in-law,  that  she  had  not 
engaged  a  nurse  before  the  toil  of  moving  into 
the  new  house  was  undertaken. 

Molly  had  learned  that  to  be  constantly  ex- 
plaining reasons  and  justifying  her  actions  to 
Mrs.  Bishop  senior,  placed  her  in  the  position  of 
seeming  to  think  herself  wiser  than  others.  She 
generally  thought  out  her  course,  but  to  explain 
this  process  made  her  feel  as  if  she  must  seem 
very  "  preachy,"  so  she  simply  left  her  to  "  won- 
der at  Molly,"  and  at  Harry  indulging  such 
freaks.  How  could  that  darling  baby  be  prop- 
erly tended,  with  Molly  "  up  to  her  eyes  in  work." 
But  the  baby  flourished,  nevertheless,  and  lay 
on  the  mattresses  or  rugs,  and  rolled  and  kicked 


MOLLY  ENGAGES  A  NURSE.  53 

and  sometimes  cried  while  Marta  and  Molly  got 
the  rooms  in  order.  But  although  she  would 
not  explain  reasons  to  her  critics,  she  answered 
her  affectionate  friends'  remonstrances  frankly 
enough. 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  Charlotte,  there  is  nothing 
terrible  about  it.  If  Harry  had  been  in  his 
old  position  I  would  never  have  thought  of  a 
nurse,  and  should  have  been  obliged  to  do  what 
I  now  do  from  choice  ;  but  I  shall  have  a  nurse 
for  two  reasons :  I  believe  in  doing  everything 
that  is  necessary  thoroughly  and  cheerfully,  even 
if  it  is  a  task  taking  all  one's  strength,  or  if  it 
be  the  greatest  drudgery,  but  I  do  not  believe 
in  wasting  one's  self  unnecessarily  for  the  sake 
of  saving  twelve  dollars  a  month  and  a  little 
food.  Another  reason,  I  have  a  feeling  that  if 
you  have  the  means  of  employing  one  unem- 
ployed woman  it  is  a  sort  of  duty  to  do  it." 

"Then  why  not  have  performed  that  duty 
already  and  saved  yourself? " 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  have  enjoyed  the  work ; 
the  baby  is  absolutely  well  and  of  course  is  very 
good.  But  my  chief  reason  is  that  I  intend  to 
take  a  perfectly  green  girl,  the  more  inexperi- 
enced the  better." 

"  Oh,  Molly,  what  a  notion !  You  have  a 
partial  success  in  Marta,  —  for  I  cannot  see  my- 
self that  a  girl  you  have  to  follow  and  watch  is 


54  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

a  treasure,  —  but  you  may  not  find  another 
Marta." 

"You  don't  do  justice  to  my  poor  Marta," 
laughed  Molly ;  "  the  fact  is,  as  servants  go  in 
this  country,  I  am  well  satisfied.  When  the 
whole  system  is  improved  we  may  hope  for  some 
ability  in  addition  to  good  intentions." 

"  Well,  then,  why  would  not  even  a  green  girl 
be  better  than  nothing  ?  " 

"  Because,  if  I  had  such  a  one,  I  could  teach 
her  nothing  while  so  busy ;  besides,  when  people 
are  unsettled,  one  has  to  make  shift  in  many 
ways,  and  a  week,  if  it  be  the  first  week,  of 
unsettled  living  in  the  semi-picnic  style  inevitable, 
before  things  get  into  a  settled  way,  would  de- 
moralize her  so  that  it  might  take  months  to 
make  her  see  what  our  ways  really  are,  first 
impressions  are  so  strong.  But  it  is  not  only 
that ;  I  want  to  have  leisure  to  teach  her  all  my 
ways  and  have  nothing  to  unteach." 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  in  that ;  I  admit  that 
the  process  of  unlearning  seems  to  be  the  most 
difficult  possible ;  one  would  think  when  that 
comes  to  be  tried  that  their  brains  were  as  '  wax 
to  receive  and  adamant  to  retain ; '  yet,  when 
one  tries  to  teach  them,  the  case  is  very  differ- 
ent, —  the  wax  is  lard  and  will  receive  no  per- 
manent impression." 

Mrs.  Bishop  had  found  the  one  servant  she 


MOLLY  ENGAGES  A  NURSE.  55 

had  at  Castle  Garden,  and  taught  her  everything 
she  knew.  Very  much  of  her  teaching  had 
slipped  from  the  girl,  yet  she  retained  enough 
to  make  her  a  fair  cook.  She  ought  to  have 
been  a  very  fine  one.  Yet  Molly  did  not  be- 
lieve she  would  have  done  as  well  had  she  taken 
a  young  woman  who  had  been  long  in  the  coun- 
try and  learned  to  do  a  few  things  badly.  At 
any  rate  the  result  of  her  experiment  was  to 
encourage  a  repetition,  and  once  the  house  was 
in  perfect  order  Molly  went  to  find  a  nurse. 

Marta  being  German,  she  thought  it  would  be 
better  to  go  to  Castle  Garden  the  day  on  which 
she  was  most  likely  to  find  one  of  the  same 
nationality.  I  confess  she  had  in  her  mind's 
eye  some  fair-haired  Gretchen,  such  as  she  had 
so  often  seen  in  Germany  (so  few  of  whom  seem 
to  arrive  in  this  country  in  all  the  thousands 
that  come),  in  whose  arms  it  would  be  a  pleas- 
ure to  see  her  darling ;  but,  as  when  she  engaged 
her  square,  solid  Marta,  she  had  pictured  a 
bright,  intelligent  girl,  so  now  there  were  no 
Gretchens,  —  only  toil-worn,  hard-featured  or 
stupid -looking  women.  In  vain  the  matron 
pointed  out  one  dazed  creature  after  another. 
Not  one  did  Molly  think  would  suit.  At  last, 
just  as  she  was  about  to  give  up  for  that  morn- 
ing, she  saw  in  a  corner  a  small  figure  with  her 
head  buried  in  the  bundle  beside  her.  Molly 
crossed  to  her  and  spoke. 


56  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

She  was  very  young,  dark,  and  thin,  and  she 
looked  stupidly  up,  yet  the  face  was  not  stupid. 
Molly  questioned  her,  found  she  was  a  German 
Swiss,  that  she  had  a  terrible  headache,  and 
that  her  brother,  with  whom  she  had  come,  had 
gone  off  to  a  farm  in  Connecticut.  She  showed 
a  letter  from  a  pastor  of  the  canton  from  which 
she  came,  testifying  to  her  respectability  and 
industry,  and  Molly  engaged  her,  although,  from 
certain  indications,  she  doubted  if  she  was  quite 
clean.  She  had  a  grimy  frill  round  her  neck, 
and  her  skin  and  hands  had  an 'unwashed  look. 

"  Yet,  poor  soul,  landed  only  a  few  hours,  with 
a  headache  and  perhaps  a  heartache,  one  cannot 
expect  much  ;  at  all  events  I  must  risk  it,  and 
will  not  let  her  take  the  baby  till  I  see." 

Molly  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  her  wholesome, 
dainty  baby  being  in  the  arms  of  any  one  who 
was  not  very  clean. 

When  she  reached  home  she  was  amused  to 
see  the  way  Marta  eyed  the  unpromising  appear- 
ance of  her  new  domestic,  whose  name  was  Anna. 
She  could  but  remember  her  own  misgivings 
when  she  engaged  Marta. 

But  before  a  week  passed  she  found  that  Anna 
had  a  fault  Marta  never  had,  —  she  was  not 
clean  ;  and  Molly  was  puzzled,  for  the  girl  was 
obedient,  more  than  willing, .  anxious  even,  to 
work.  Dirty  habits  had  always,  in  Molly's  ex- 


MOLLY  EX U AGES  A   NURSE.  57 

perience  hitherto,  seemed,  if  not  caused  by,  at 
least  allied  to,  laziness. 

"  I  hardly  know  what  to  do  about  Anna,"  she 
said  to  her  neighbor  and  intimate  friend,  Mrs. 
Lennox.  "  She  is  quite  well  educated,  far  more 
intelligent  than  the  average  of  her  class,  and  yet 
I  cannot  let  her  take  the  baby." 

"  I  don't  think  you  will  have  any  peace  with 
a  dirty  girl." 

"  No,  it  seems  rather  hopeless ;  yet  there  are 
so  many  things  I  like  about  her,  I  am  inclined 
to  try  what  I  can  do  with  her.  Surely,  as  she 
appears  not  to  mind  work,  she  would  not  mind 
bestowing  a  little  of  it  on  her  own  person." 

Molly  felt  almost  as  much  diffidence  in  ap- 
proaching the  subject  as  if  Anna  had  been  one  of 
her  own  class.  It  seemed  a  very  different  thing 
to  tell  a  girl  that  her  dishes  were  not  properly 
washed,  or  her  sweeping  was  not  thorough,  or 
even  to  say  she  had  to  wear  cleaner  aprons,  from 
what  it  was  to  tell  her  her  hair  was  dirty  though 
smooth,  that  her  skin  was  unwashed,  and  all 
her  belongings  needed  thorough  cleansing.  Many 
a  housekeeper  knew  what  all  this  was,  and  had 
had  to  correct  even  worse  personal  habits,  but 
to  Molly  it  was  a  new  experience.  So  far  as  it 
was  possible  she  wished  to  respect  her  servants, 
and  to  treat  them  as  she  herself  would  wish  to  be 
treated,  and  it  was  this  fellow-feeling  that  made 


58  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

her  picture  the  mortification  of  the  girl.  However, 
it  was  something  she  would  have  to  hear  if  she 
was  to  live  with  any  respectable  family,  and  she 
nerved  herself  to  the  task. 

Poor  Molly  almost  wished  Anna  would  do 
something  to  make  her  a  little  angry  ;  what  she 
had  to  say  would  come  easier,  —  for  Molly  was 
a  bit  of  a  moral  coward,  as  her  husband  would 
laughingly  tell  her.  But  beyond  the  chronic 
frowsiness  of  Anna's  person  and  the  fact  that 
the  first  time  she  performed  any  task  it  was 
very  ill  done  (the  second  much  better),  she 
could  find  no  reasonable  fault;  so  she  had  to 
begin  her  objurgation  in  cold  blood. 

She  had  given  the  baby  its  tepid  bath,  for 
this  was  a  task  she  delighted  in  and  always  did 
herself,  and  the  plump  little  thing  was  sweet  and 
fresh  and  dainty  as  a  white  flower. 

Anna  had  been  instructed  to  put  every  sin- 
gle article  back  in  its  appointed  place,  to  air 
the  little  night  garments  and  fold  them  neatly, 
but  the  delicate  flannel  wrapper  was  already 
looking  soiled  from  her  handling. 

"  Anna,"  said  Molly,  gently,  "  I  want  to  speak 
to  you.  Do  you  notice  that,  although  I  engaged 
you  to  nurse  the  baby,  I  never  give  her  to  you  ?  " 

Anna  flushed.  "I  do  notice,  ma'am,  and  I 
thought  perhaps  I  did  not  please  you." 

The  words  were  spoken  timidly,  and  the  girl's 
face  showed  her  distress. 


MOLLY  ENGAGES  A  NURSE.  59 

"  The  fact  is,  Anna,  you  are  not  clean  enough. 
If  you  were  to  carry  the  baby  I  should  have  to 
change  her  clothes  twice  a  day." 

"  Not  clean !  "  cried  the  girl  in  amazement, 
and  then  she  pressed  both  hands  on  her  hair, 
which  was  tightly  braided,  and  looked  down  at 
her  woolen  dress,  which  was  without  a  rent,  and 
patched  neatly  enough,  where  worn. 

"  I  don't  believe  the  poor  thing  knows  what 
it  is  to  be  clean,"  thought  Molly. 

"  I  know  you  are  tidy  enough,  but  don't  you 
know  that  you  have  to  wash  your  clothes  and 
your  skin  ?  I  noticed  yesterday  you  took  up  the 
ashes  in  this  room  and  then,  without  washing 
your  hands,  began  to  strip  the  baby's  cradle, 
until  I  reminded  you.  You  must  wash  your 
hands  after  every  dirty  task  that  soils  them. 
The  white  aprons  I  have  given  you  are  soiled 
almost  immediately,  not  by  the  work  you  do,  but 
by  your  hands  and  dress.  I  am  not  scolding 
you,  but  if  you  leave  me  you  will  find  the  same 
trouble  elsewhere." 

Even  as  Molly  talked  she  felt  a  sort  of  despair 
of  reforming  a  girl  with  whom  she  had  to  begin 
by  telling  her  when  to  wash  her  hands,  and 
realized  after  all  if  even  her  gown  and  hands 
were  clean,  how  little  that  was  when  her  hair 
seemed  glued  with  oil  and  dirt. 

"  I  always  have  been  thought  clean,  but  I  will 
do  anything  you  tell  me,  ma'am." 


60  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Tears  were  in  the  girl's  eyes,  and  Molly  be- 
lieved she  meant  what  she  said. 

"  Very  well,  Anna ;  I  will  help  you  to  change 
your  habits  if  you  will  obey.  You  must  have 
that  gown  washed  and  put  on  your  best.  I 
will  buy  some  seersucker  for  two  dresses,  and 
cut  and  fit  them  for  you.  Can  you  use  a  sew- 
ing-machine ?  " 

"A  little." 

"  Very  well ;  I  will  show  you  what  you  do  not 
know.  Your  first  wages  must  be  spent  to  get 
you  the  proper  changes." 

For  the  next  month  Molly  had  to  devote 
much  time  to  Anna.  She  found  the  girl  quite 
willing,  but  unable  to  realize  that  once  clean  she 
must  keep  so.  A  bath  taken  was  something  to 
be  repeated  only  at  very  long  intervals,  and  she 
told  Molly  her  hair  had  never  been  washed  since 
she  was  a  child  because  she  would  take  cold. 
Nevertheless,  by  degrees  she  became  used  to 
washing  her  hands,  and  to  the  fact  that  her 
dress  must  not  be  worn  till  it  was  black  before 
it  was  washed. 

Martawas  the  worst  disappointment  to  Molly 
at  this  time.  She  had  looked  to  her  to  be  good 
to  the  stranger,  and  to  help  her  over  the  first 
difficulties,  but  it  was  easy  to  see  that  Marta 
despised  her  utterly.  Her  dirtiness  was  per- 
haps the  beginning  of  this,  and  the  prejudice 


MOLLY  ENGAGES  A  NURSE.  61 

once  entertained  was  not  to  be  got  rid  of ;  and 
long  after  Molly  had  ceased  to  distrust  her  and 
she  had  taken  up  her  duties,  Marta  found  fault, 
and  by  reason  of  her  older  standing  in  the  family, 
queened  it  over  her.  Yet  Molly's  own  belief 
was  that  if  she  had  spent  as  much  time  teaching 
Anna  as  Marta,  the  intelligence  of  the  former 
would  have  given  better  results. 

Another  reason,  perhaps,  for  Marta's  con- 
tempt for  Anna  was  the  discovery  soon  made 
that  the  latter  took  refuge  in  a  lie  as  naturally 
as  a  duck  takes  to  water.  She  seemed  to  expect 
to  be  scolded  for  every  trivial  fault,  and  denied 
it  instantly,  as  a  child  sure  of  being  whipped 
might.  Sometimes,  not  to  humiliate  her,  Molly 
pretended  to  be  unaware  of  the  lie.  At  others  she 
talked  seriously  and  kindly  to  her,  pointing  out 
that  her  untruths  deceived  no  one,  recalling  one 
or  two  instances  in  which  she  had  disbelieved 
her  without  saying  so,  but  that  they  doubled  the 
fault ;  reminding  her,  too,  that  she  would  not  be 
scolded  for  accidents  or  mistakes ;  that  even  if 
she  had  some  serious  mishaps  she  would  only 
aggravate  the  evil  by  a  falsehood. 

"  Indeed,  Anna,  I  should  be  more  inclined  to 
send  you  away  for  the  untruth  than  the  misfor- 
tune." 

The  girl  wept  bitterly,  and  assured  Mrs. 
Bishop  she  should  never  regret  having  patience 


62  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

with  her,  that  no  one  had  ever  been  so  kind. 
To  Molly,  who  watched  her  so  closely,  it  was  a 
very  sad  proof  of  the  result  of  severe  treatment 
on  a  timid  nature.  The  result  is  almost  always 
deceit.  From  questions  she  learned  that  her 
mother  had  been  a  good,  industrious  woman  who 
worked  in  a  lace  factory,  and  for  years  Anna  had 
also  done  the  same  work,  but  that  she  had  pun- 
ished every  small  fault.  The  girl  artlessly  told 
this  as  a  proof  of  her  mother's  excellence,  not  as 
a  cruelty  to  herself. 

There  is  no  gainsaying  the  fact  that  Anna  was 
a  very  unpromising  servant,  yet  she  did  improve, 
and  Molly  had  helped  herself  to  be  patient  by 
remembering  how  often  a  fairly  competent  ser-' 
vant  will  deteriorate,  and  so  she  resolved  to  give 
this  poor,  good,  willing  soul  a  fair  trial. 

One  reason  stronger  than  all  others  with 
Molly  for  taking  an  entirely  inexperienced  girl 
for  nurse  was  because  she  had  her  own  theories 
about  the  bringing  up  of  her  child,  and  a  nurse 
who  pretended  to  have  experience  would  be 
likely  to  act  on  that  experience  covertly,  if  she 
did  not  do  so  openly.  Molly  had  a  strong  con- 
viction, gathered  from  what  she  had  observed 
and  what  she  had  read,  that  on  the  first  year  of 
a  child's  life  depends  very  much  more  of  its 
character  as  a  child  than  on  the  second  year. 

Usually  mothers  think  it  is  early  enough  to 
begin  training  a  child  when  it  has  passed  its  first 


MOLLY  ENGAGES  A  NURSE.  63 

year,  often  its  second.  The  cunning  little  ways 
that,  coming  from  a  midget  just  able  to  crawl, 
are  so  irresistibly  funny,  become  very  naughty 
tricks  when  the  child  is  two  years  old,  and  one 
day  the  poor  baby  is  frowned  upon  and  scolded 
for  actions  that  have  heretofore  been  laughed  at 
and  often  followed  by  rapturous  kisses  of  delight 
from  mamma.  But  baby's  habits  have  been 
formed,  young  as  it  is,  and  it  has  to  unlearn, 
which  is  a  very  hard  process  for  grown  people, 
who  see  the  reason  for  it,  but  harder  for  a  little, 
unreasoning  being,  who  only  understands  that  it 
is  being  smiled  at  and  loved,  or  frowned  upon 
and  chilled,  without  knowing  why. 

Molly  dreaded  spoiling  her  baby.  Every 
one,  at  first,  had  predicted  that  it  would  be 
trained  to  death.  There  had  been  a  rapid  som- 
ersault of  opinion.  At  first  it  had  been  thought 
that  with  her  ideas  of  training  a  baby  from  the 
first  (those  ideas,  reader,  were  newer  when 
Molly's  baby  was  born  than  they  are  to-day)  she 
would  be  a  cold,  hard  mother ;  then  when  they 
saw  how  she  reveled  in  her  little  one,  how  con- 
stantly she  tended  it  herself,  there  was  a  cer- 
tainty that  it  would  be  spoiled,  especially  when 
they  neither  heard  nor  saw  that  the  derided 
"  training  "  was  carried  beyond  the  first  month. 

Nevertheless,  Molly  did  keep  a  watch  over 
herself  and  the  little  Margaret ;  she  was  careful 
to  discourage  her  doing  anything  at  six  months 


64  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

that  she  would  have  to  check  at  two  years,  and 
so  when  the  baby  eyes  were  caught  by  glittering 
ornaments,  and  the  baby  hands  outstretched  for 
them,  the  little  hands  were  gently  put  down. 
Anna  and  Marta  and  even  Mr.  Bishop  thought 
there  could  be  no  harm  in  indulging  baby  with 
unbreakable  objects  from  the  mantel,  but  Molly 
shook  her  head.  And  so  it  was  with  tearing 
books.  Anna  discovered  baby  liked  nothing  so 
well  as  to  tear  paper,  and  gave  it  a  sheet  of 
newspaper  to  play  with.  Molly  saw  the  baby 
tearing  and  scattering  and  delighting  in  the 
noise  it  made,  and  gently  coaxed  the  sheet  away. 

"  Oh,  but  she  loves  to  have  it,"  said  Anna 
when  she  saw  the  action. 

"  Yes ;  but  what  difference  can  baby  see  be- 
tween the  paper  it  may  tear  and  that  which  it 
may  not  ?  and  later  she  will  naturally  tear  every 
book  she  can  get  hold  of,  and  then,  poor  dar- 
ling, we  should  have  to  scold,  and  she  would  cry 
to  do  what  she  has  always  been  allowed  to  do,  — 
would  n't  you,  my  precious  ?  "  And  then  Molly 
poured  out  a  flood  of  mother  eloquence  over  the 
darling,  and,  as  every  mother  has  her  own  love 
language,  it  is  of  no  use  to  describe  Molly's, 
which  was  in  no  sense  wiser  than  any  one  else's. 

But  this  was  the  gist  of  Molly's  training: 
that  prevention  was  better  than  cure ;  that  if 
the  child  was  not  allowed  to  acquire  bad  habits, 
there  would  be  none  to  cure. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WHY    FREDDY   STEVENS   CRIED. 

IT  is  not  my  intention  to  dwell  very  long  on 
this  sunny  part  of  Molly's  life.  The  clouds  that 
were  to  darken  it  later  had  not  yet  cast  their 
shadows  upon  her,  and  the  smooth  by-way  of 
perfect  happiness  is  a  very  uninteresting  road  to 
those  wayfarers  who  like  the  bustle  and  traffic 
and  excitement  of  the  busy  highway  of  life. 

I  will  say  shortly,  therefore,  that  although 
Molly  was  careful  to  tell  herself  that  from  this 
one  child  she  could  not  judge  others  or  even  an- 
other, yet  so  far  as  this  one  was  concerned  she 
had  reason  to  congratulate  herself.  By  the  time 
it  was  a  year  old  it  was  generally  conceded  that 
it  was  a  wonderful  baby. 

About  this  time  Molly  and  her  husband  made 
a  trip  to  Chicago,  and  when  she  emerged  the 
first  morning  from  the  sleeper,  with  the  baby 
dressed  and  bathed  and  happy,  she  was  looked 
upon  with  curiosity ;  and  one  old  gentleman  who 
occupied  the  section  next  to  hers,  said  : 

"  I  congratulate  you,  madam ;  that  is  the  only 


66  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

really  good  baby  I  ever  traveled  with.  Last 
night  when  I  saw  you  were  my  neighbor  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  the  usual  thing,  but  I  never  heard 
the  child." 

Molly  was  far  happier  than  if  he  had  said  her 
baby  was  the  most  beautiful  he  had  ever  seen, 
but  although  she  was  a  very  proud  young 
mother  at  that  moment,  she  concealed  her  ela- 
tion and  said  half  apologetically,  for  there  were 
other  babies  on  board  who  were  by  no  means 
quiet : 

"  But  my  baby  has  nothing  to  cry  for,  she  is 
so  perfectly  well." 

When  Harry  came  to  take  her  to  breakfast, 
she  gleefully  told  him  what  the  old  gentleman 
had  said. 

Mr.  Bishop,  however,  seemed  to  take  it  as  a 
matter  of  course. 

"  Well,  Molly,  you  knew  she  was  a  good  baby, 
did  n't  you?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  thought  so ;  but  you  know  every 
mother  thinks  her  own  baby  good,  and  friends 
agree  with  her :  but  this  gentleman  actually  goes 
out  of  his  way  to  tell  me  so,  and  it  is  pleasant, 
I  confess." 

An  hour  or  two  later  a  young  lady  whose  baby 
had  fretted  very  much  during  the  night,  and 
was  now  only  kept  quiet  by  constant  change 
of  movement  on  the  nurse's  part,  came  and 


WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS   CRIED.  67 

seated  herself  next  to  Molly.     She  looked  tired 
and  anxious. 

"  Will  you  excuse  me  if  I  ask  you  what  you 
give  your  baby  to  soothe  it  ?  " 

Molly  hardly  understood  the  purport  of  the 
question  at  first.  When  she  did,  she  looked  at 
the  weary  young  mother  in  horror,  which  soon 
changed  to  pity. 

"  I  give  her  nothing ;  why  should  I  ?  " 

"  She  was  so  quiet,  I  thought  you  might,  and 
yet  she  seems  so  well  and  bright  that  if  you  did, 
I  felt  almost  inclined  to  try.  My  poor  baby  is 
so  restless  and  cries  so  incessantly  that  I  and 
Mandy  are  quite  worn  out,  and  my  husband  is 
almost  as  bad,  for  he  can't  sleep." 

"  But  there  must  be  some  cause.  Have  you 
consulted  a  physician  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ;  but  he  says  the  baby  is  well,  and  I 
suppose  it  is ;  and  some  say  it  is  good  for  a  baby 
to  cry,  but  I  can't  think  it;  then  it  annoys 
other  people  so  terribly.  That  lady,"  indicat- 
ing a  fine-looking  elderly  woman,  "  tells  me  it  is 
cruel  not  to  help  the  dear  little  thing  to  sleep, 
and  it  does  seem  so,  yet  I  have  heard  such 
dreadful  things  of  soothing  syrups  and  cordials." 

"  Oh,  I  would  not  dose  a  child  for  the  world. 
Drugs  must  injure  the  brain  !  " 

"  Oh,  you  can't  tell  what  you  would  do  if  you 
had  a  baby  that  had  cried  night  and  day  for  ten 


68  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

weeks  with  hardly  any  intermission,  especially  if 
you  were  not  very  strong  yourself."  The  young 
mother  moved  wearily  away,  and  Molly  did 
wonder  what  she  would  do  if  she  were  so  tried. 
A  little  later,  seeing  the  baby  on  its  mother's  lap, 
she  went  toward  her  and  offered  to  relieve  her. 

The  baby  was  in  one  of  its  rare  quiet  moods, 
and  was  certainly  not  an  unhealthy  -  looking 
child.  It  was  rather  thin,  but  its  skin  was  mot- 
tled. It  was  daintily  clothed  and  evidently 
well  cared  for,  and  yet  Molly  felt  certain  that 
something  was  wrong  about  the  care.  She  asked 
the  mother  if  she  thought  its  food  was  suffi- 
ciently nourishing,  and  was  told  that  the  doctor 
had  said  so ;  she  gave  it  food  made  of  condensed 
milk  and  prepared  barley,  which  seemed  to  agree 
with  it  perfectly.  At  this  point  the  elderly  lady 
came  near  them. 

"  I  have  been  advising  this  lady  to  give  her 
baby  a  little  soothing  syrup.  The  child  needs 
rest,  and  till  it  gets  it,  it  will  not  get  on."  She 
looked  inquiringly  at  Molly,  who  would  rather 
have  said  nothing,  and  did  not  answer  until 
directly  asked  the  question  ;  then  she  said  : 

"  I  can  hardly  say  what  I  should  do,  but  one 
thing  I  know  I  never  would  do,  and  that  is  give 
any  kind  of  drug  or  cordial  to  a  baby." 

The  lady  drew  her  shawl  a  little  closer  about 
her  and  smiled  indulgently. 


WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS   CRIED.  69 

"  My  dear,  you  have  your  first  child,  which 
happens  to  be  a  good  one.  I  am  the  mother  of 
seven,  all  robust,  strong  men.  That  is  my 
youngest  over  there,"  pointing  to  a  very  tall, 
ruddy,  broad-shouldered  youth,  "  and  I  assure 
you,"  she  said,  smiling  satirically,  "  I  never  al- 
lowed him  to  have  a  restless  night  when  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  soothing  syrup  would  give  him  a 
good  one.  I  have  six  more  such  sons,  and  I 
firmly  believe  that  soothing  syrup  saved  the 
lives  of  two  of  them  in  teething ;  there  is  n't  a 
mother  in  our  part  of  the  country  can  show  such 
a  family  as  mine." 

She  looked  triumphantly  at  Molly,  who  was  of 
course  dumb.  What  could  she  say  —  she  with 
only  her  one  wee  lamb  and  her  convictions  — 
against  the  testimony  of  this  experienced  matron 
who  could  point  to  such  a  robust  specimen  of 
human  nature  as  the  result  of  dosing?  What 
she  did  say  in  her  heart  was,  "  They  must  indeed 
have  been  strong  to  have  survived." 

In  spite  of  herself  she  could  not  help  think- 
ing of  the  poor  crying  baby  and  wondering  what 
was  wrong.  She  knew  that  there  were  nervous, 
restless  babies  that  no  care  could  change,  but 
this  particular  one  did  not  impress  her  so.  The 
mother,*  too,  in  spite  of  her  weariness,  seemed  of 
a  placid  temperament. 

It  chanced  that  when  they  reached  the  hotel 


70  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

at  which  Mr.  Bishop  intended  to  stay  the  young 
mother  and  her  baby  were  in  the  parlor.  Later 
she  found  their  rooms  were  close  together;  and 
all  through  the  night  they  could  hear  the  wail 
of  the  baby,  and  Molly's  heart  ached  for  both 
mother  and  child. 

They  met  on  stairs  and  corridor  often  for  the 
next  day  or  two,  and  always  stopped  to  talk  of 
the  two  babies ;  and  on  the  third  morning  as 
Molly  came  from  her  breakfast  she  found  Mrs. 
Stevens,  the  young  mother,  walking  up  and 
down  the  hall  with  her  infant  while  the  nurse 
was  breakfasting. 

"  Won't  you  come  into  my  room  ?  I  am  just 
going  to  bathe  Meg  while  Anna  goes  down." 

"  Oh,  I  would  love  to  do  it,"  said  Mrs.  Ste- 
vens. "  I  wish  I  had  courage  to  wash  Freddy ; 
I  am  so  afraid  I  might  hurt  him." 

"  Anna  is  not  experienced  or  careful  enough 
for  me  to  trust  her  to  bathe  Meg,  and  I  prefer 
to  do  it,  for  then  I  have  no  uneasiness." 

"Mandy  happily  is  very  experienced,  so  I 
have  no  fear ;  and  then  she  is  devoted  to  the 
baby." 

This  Molly  had  observed  for  herself,  and  yet 
she  felt  Mandy  was  scarcely  the  person  to  be 
left  to  bathe  an  infant. 

"  Why  don't  you  take  courage  and  bathe  him 
yourself,  since  you  wish  to  do  it.  It  is  really  only 
the  first  time  you  need  dread." 


WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS    CRIED.  71 

• 

Mrs.  Stevens  hesitated.  "  I  wish  I  could,  but 
Mandy  would  be  hurt,  and  might  be  a  little 
sulky,  and  I  am  sure  I  should  be  so  scared  the 
first  time  that  I  could  not  do  it  without  assist- 
ance." 

"  Suppose  you  do  it  right  now,"  said  Molly, 
smiling.  "  Meg  is  very  comfortable,  and  you 
use  her  water." 

Meg  was  on  the  floor,  rolling  in  perfect  con- 
tent, with  a  bunch  of  keys  which  always  seemed 
more  fascinating  than  the  orthodox  rattle.  "  If 
Mandy  had  to  leave  you  for  a  day,  or  were  ill, 
you  would  be  glad  to  have  taken  the  first  step  — 
or  I  will  bathe  it  to-day,  and  you  come  here  to- 
morrow." 

Mrs.  Stevens  accepted  the  offer,  and  the  baby 
was  undressed,  Molly  admiring  the  exquisite 
quality  of  the  little  garments  as  they  were  re- 
moved, and  their  dainty  make. 

As  it  lay  undressed,  she  saw  the  child  was 
well  formed  and  seemingly  very  healthy.  It 
had  cried  of  course  during  the  whole  process  of 
undressing,  and  now  as  Molly,  with  rolled-up 
sleeve,  was  about  to  lay  the  tiny  little  form  with 
her  hand  under  its  body,  the  head  supported  by 
her  arm,  in  the  water,  the  child  raised  its  arms, 
and  Molly  uttered  an  exclamation  :  the  arm-pits 
were  entirely  raw ! 

"  Oh,  the  poor  darling !     No  wonder  it  cried." 


72  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Further  investigation  showed  that  wherever 
two  fleshy  parts  came  together  they  were  denuded 
of  skin,  and  the  flesh  was  angry  and  shining. 
Molly  could  hardly  believe  that  since  the  baby 
had  been  in  Mandy's  care,  water  had  ever  been 
used  to  the  crevices  of  the  child's  body. 

The  poor,  shocked  mother  wept  bitter  tears  to 
think  how  her  darling  must  have  suffered. 

"  Oh,  how  cruel  Mandy  was,"  she  said,  kissing 
the  poor  little  limbs. 

"  I  don't  think  she  has  intended  to  neglect  it ; 
probably  she  has  barely  noticed  in  washing  the 
chafed  spots,  or  has  thought  a  little  powder  would 
set  it  right,  but  "  — 

Molly  carefully  washed  the  spots  with  warm 
water  into  which  she  had  put  a  pinch  of  borax, 
dabbing  the  excoriated  flesh  with  the  child's  own 
face-sponge,  and  drying  it  with  soft  old  linen. 
She  had  meanwhile  told  the  mother  to  take  a 
half  teaspoonful  of  powdered  borax  and  rub  it 
with  the  bowl  of  a  teaspoon  on  paper  till  it  was 
as  fine  and  smooth  as  possible,  then  to  mix  it 
with  three  teaspoonfuls  of  talcum,  and  powder 
the  child  with  it. 

The  child  screamed  through  the  whole  process, 
but  when  it  was  over  and  Mrs.  Stevens  took  it 
from  Molly,  without  waiting  for  food,  it  fell 
asleep. 

"  Oh,  what  can  I  say  to  you  and  for  myself  ? 


WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS  CRIED.  73 

But  I  had  examined  its  neck  and  did  not  find 
any  sign  of  chafing,  and  thought  if  it  was  neg- 
lected I  should  see  it  there.  You  must  think 
me  a  heartless  mother,  and  yet  I  dearly  love  my 
baby." 

"Of  course  you  do,  and  I  might  have  been 
no  wiser  with  my  own  had  I  not  heard  a  story 
of  a  nurse's  neglect  when  I  was  a  child,  and 
knew  ever  after  that  the  chafing  of  the  skin  was 
one  of  the  very  chief  things  to  guard  against." 

"  What  would  you  advise  me  to  do  now?" 

"  I  shall  be  here  three  or  four  days  longer, 
and  if  you  wish  I  will  bathe  the  baby  to-night 
and  to-morrow ;  then  I  will  be  by  you  the  first 
two  times  you  do  it  yourself.  I  would  certainly 
bathe  it  twice  a  day  during  this  warm  weather." 

"  I  will  do  anything !  How  long  do  you 
think  it  will  take  to  heal  ?  " 

"  Oh,  a  very  short  time,  I  am  sure,  with  such 
attention  as  you  will  give  it ;  but  I  think  in  case 
the  talc  does  not  agree  with  its  skin  that  I 
would  get  some  Lycopodium,  and  use  that  in  its 
place." 

When  Mrs.  Bishop  left  Chicago  she  left  one 
grateful  friend  there  and  one  bitter  enemy. 
Mandy  angrily  resented  the  "  meddlesomeness  " 
which  had  betrayed  her  own  unfitness  for  her 
place.  But  Molly's  adventures  with  tiny  Meg 
were  not  at  an  end.  On  the  return  journey  the 


74  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

happy  baby  excited  much  comment  and  some 
sneers.  It  was  rather  singular,  but  Molly  found 
a  quiet  baby  was  as  much  sneered  at  as  a  blue 
stocking  used  to  be.  One  incident  that  tickled 
Harry's  sense  of  fun  hugely  was  the  remark  of 
a  grave  old  lady,  who  said : 

"  Does  n't  that  child  ever  cry  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes,  indeed  she  does.  If  she 's  uncom- 
fortable she  lets  us  know  it ;  but  then  we  try  to 
keep  her  very  comfortable,  so  her  crying  is  not 
very  frequent." 

"  Well,  I  dare  say  you  're  very  proud  of  hav- 
ing a  good  baby,  but  mark  my  words  that  child 
will  have  no  lungs  !  If  I  had  a  baby  who  did  n't 
cry  its  full  share  I  should  make  it.  What  sort 
of  a  chest  will  it  have  ?  " 

In  speaking  of  this  journey  of  Molly's  I  have 
somewhat  anticipated.  In  her  inexperience  she 
had  dreaded  the  weaning  of  little  Meg,  and 
again  Mrs.  Lennox  had  come  to  her  aid. 

"  My  dear,  just  before  my  first  baby  was  born 
I  read  in  "  Scribner's  Magazine  "  an  article  on 
weaning  babies,  which  helped  me  to  form  a  plan 
of  my  own.  I  will  look  it  up,  and  you  will  per- 
haps be  able  to  adapt  the  rules  to  your  needs. 
I  am  certain  of  one  thing,  and  that  is,  that  the 
idea  of  gradually  preparing  the  child  to  be  weaned 
is  a  good  one.  As  to  the  literal  carrying  out  of 
the  details,  every  mother  must  be  guided  by  her 
own  sense  and  circumstances." 


WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS  CRIED.  75 

This  conversation  took  place  when  Meg  was 
six  months  old,  and  already  for  several  weeks 
Molly  had  given  her  a  teaspoonful  of  the  bowl 
of  oatmeal  gruel  which  she  herself  took  at  eleven 
each  morning  (for  the  baby's  benefit),  watching 
very  keenly  the  first  day  or  two  the  effect  the 
food  had  on  its  bowels ;  but  this  was  in  every 
way  good  with  Meg,  who  needed  laxative  food, 
although  with  many  children  the  oatmeal  might 
have  been  unsafe.  Molly's  object,  however,  was 
to  familiarize  the  child  with  the  use  of  a  spoon, 
so  that  when  feeding  became  necessary,  a  bottle 
need  not  be  used. 

She  read  the  article  that  Mrs.  Lennox  had 
given  her,  and  such  parts  of  it  as  applied  strictly 
to  weaning  she  marked  for  her -own  guidance. 
They  were  as  follows  :  — 

"  Many  mothers  put  off  the  necessity  of  wean- 
ing the  baby,  yet  are  sadly  conscious  that  they 
neglect  a  duty  to  themselves  and  the  child  by 
putting  off  the  evil  hour,  —  the  mother-heart 
shrinking  from  what  she  feels  must  be  pain  to 
her  darling.  With  tender  prescience  she  sees 
the  week  of  weeping  and  baby  agony  she  will 
have  to  encounter.  And  so  time  goes  on,  and 
the  child,  who  should  have  been  weaned  at  be- 
tween nine  and  twelve  months,  is  unweaned  at 
fifteen ;  indeed,  among  working  women  I  have 
known  them  to  be  unweaned  at  two  years! 


76  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

"  Of  course  there  are  babies  and  babies  —  it 
may  not  be  possible  to  prescribe  a  rule  for  all 
cases  ;  the  best  age  for  weaning  baby  may  come 
just  as  it  is  suffering  from  some  infant  trouble,  in 
very  hot  weather,  on  the  eve  of  a  journey,  —  a 
dozen  things,  in  short,  may  make  it  advisable  to 
defer  the  time ;  but  for  healthy  children  there 
is  no  age  at  which  weaning  is  so  easy  to  mother 
and  child  as  from  nine  to  twelve  months  of  age, 
and  the  later  it  is  after  such  age  the  more  diffi- 
cult. 

"  Yet  need  it  be  such  a  painful  time  ?  I 
think  not.  I  know  that  in  the  case  of  a  healthy 
baby  accustomed  to  being  nursed  at  regular 
hours,  there  actually  need  be  no  trial  to  the 
child,  provided  the  mother  has  patience  and  firm- 
ness —  not  even  a  tear.  Foolishly  fond  mothers, 
who  have  used  nature's  food  as  a  solace  for 
every  woe,  will  not  perhaps  find  a  tearless  wean- 
ing possible  ;  but  I  write  for  those  tenderly  wise 
ones  who  have  observed  as  regular  hours  for 
baby's  meals  as  for  their  own ;  or  for  those 
about  to  become  mothers.  To  these  last  I  would 
say:  As  you  value  your  baby's  health  and  com- 
fort, your  husband's  ease,  and  your  own  nerves, 
begin  with  the  first  day  and  accustom  the  baby 
to  nurse  only  at  certain  hours. 

"  A  newly  born  baby  will  require  food  oftener 
than  when  older;  but  constitutions  differ  so 


WHY  FREDDY  STEVENS   CRIED.  77 

much  that  it  is  best  to  consult  your  doctor  as  to 
the  number  of  meals  it  will  require  during  the 
day,  and  then  adhere  strictly  to  his  rules.  This 
point  is  so  often  neglected,  or  the  necessity  for 
some  rule  for  feeding  being  acknowledged,  it  is 
so  often  considered  time  enough  to  begin  '  when 
baby  gets  older,'  when  it  is  a  difficult  matter 
to  break  habits  formed,  that  for  the  sake  of 
mother  and  child  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  urged. 
Physicians  say,  half  the  colicky  babies  are  made 
so  during  the  first  month  of  their  life,  by  the 
old  school  of  monthly  nurses  or  foolish  mothers 
overfeeding  them,  or  keeping  them  so  warm  that 
every  breath  of  fresh  air  afterwards  chills  them. 
"  As  the  child  gets  older,  gradually  diminish 
the  number  of  meals,  letting  it,  however,  take  as 
much  food  as  it  cares  for  at  each  one,  until  at 
six  months  it  has  but  four  meals  during  the  day 
from  its  mother  and  one  at  night.  At  that  age 
it  is  well  to  begin  feeding  with  a  little  oatmeal 
porridge  or  prepared  barley  food  ;  begin  with  a 
teaspoonful,  gradually  increasing  the  quantity 
till  at  nine  months  or  thereabouts  it  will  take  a 
hearty  meal  of  it.  Of  course  every  mother  must 
be  guided  by  the  constitution  of  her  child  in  the 
choice  of  food  ;  for  one  child  will  starve  on  what 
another  will  thrive  on  ;  but  avoid  feeding  en- 
tirely, or  even  principally,  on  cornstarch.  The 
best  hour  for  giving  this  extra  food  will  also  de- 


78  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

pend  on  circumstances.  A  good  plan  is  to  nurse 
the  baby  at  eight  A.  M.  and  at  noon,  at  four  and 
at  seven  p.  M. ;  and  at  10  A.  M.  give  the  oatmeal 
or  barley  gruel.  The  first  step  in  weaning  will  be 
to  break  off  one  meal.  The  four-o'clock  meal  is 
the  best  to  wean  from  first ;  when  the  baby  comes 
in  from  its  airing  a  cup  of  warm  food  may  be 
ready  for  it.  It  is  well,  if  convenient,  for  the 
mother  to  disappear  the  first  time  the  substitu- 
tion is  made.  Wait  a  week  before  weaning  from 
a  second  meal  ;  then  break  off  the  noon  nursing 
in  the  same  way,  having  the  food  quite  ready 
when  baby  comes  in  hungry.  In  mild  weather, 
the  young  child  should  be  out  every  sunny  hour 
of  the  day ;  modern  carriages  enable  it  to  sleep 
as  restfully  as  in  bed.  Let  it  get  quite  used  to 
this  change  before  proceeding  to  another.  The 
weaning  from  the  evening  meal  it  is  best  to 
leave  till  last.  When  it  becomes  time  for  this, 
give  simply  as  much  warm  new  milk  as  the  child 
cares  to  take,  then  put  it  to  bed  as  usual.  There 
is  now  but  the  night  nursing  left.  This  may  be 
broken  off  by  giving  a  cup  of  warm  milk  the 
moment  it  wakes,  for  a  few  nights,  gradually  de- 
creasing the  quantity  till  it  will  no  longer  wake 
for  it,  but  sleep  till  morning,  when  it  is  well  to 
give  it  as  much  milk  as  it  wants.  This  may 
seem  a  slow  and  tedious  plan  in  the  telling,  but 
it  is  not  so  in  practice  ;  to  a  tender-hearted 


WHY  FREDDY    STEVENS   CRIED.  79 

mother  it  is  at  all  events  preferable  to  the  week 
of  tears  and  struggles  that  follows  weaning  by 
the  short  and  sharp  method. 

"  One  word  more  about  feeding  the  baby.  By 
giving  its  meals  at  certain  hours  and  those  only, 
one  meal  has  time  to  digest  before  another  is 
taken.  You  thus  avoid  a  fruitful  cause  of  colic. 
A  baby,  too,  who  is  fed  regularly  only  craves 
food  at  certain  times,  and  then  it  will  take  a 
hearty  satisfying  meal,  while  one  nursed  every 
half  hour  is  ever  craving  and  restless  ;  its  stom- 
ach cannot  digest  the  food  so  constantly  intro- 
duced, and  crying,  wakefulness,  and  general 
misery  are  the  result." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LITTLE   JOHN    ARRIVES.  —  CLOUDS   ON   MOLLY'S 
HORIZON. — MOLLY   A    WIDOW. 

MEG  was  nearly  three  years  old  when  Molly's 
second  baby  was  born,  a  boy  this  time,  much  to 
Mr.  Bishop's  delight,  and  at  first  to  Meg's  dis- 
gust. She  felt  that  her  nose  was  put  sadly  out 
of  joint  by  the  new-comer,  and  when  she  saw 
the  baby  lying  by  her  mother,  she  quickly  turned 
her  back  and  could  not  be  made  to  look  at  it 
again. 

"  Why,  Meg !  "  said  Mrs.  Welles,  "  won't  you 
look  at  your  little  brother  ?  " 

But  Meg  persistently  turned  the  back  of  her 
curly  head  to  the  bed. 

"  What  shall  we  do  with  little  brother,  then, 
Meg  ?  " 

"  Put  him  in  the  coal  -  scuttle  !  "  came  deci- 
sively from  the  baby  lips. 

Molly  was  distressed  at  her  darling's  jealousy, 
but  it  did  not  last  long.  She  ran  to  hide  her 
face  in  her  aunt  Charlotte's  lap  (she  called  Mrs. 
Welles  aunt),  but  gradually  began  to  take  sur- 


LITTLE  JOHN  ARRIVES.  81 

reptitious  peeps  when  no  longer  invited  to  do  so, 
and  very  soon  she  had  toddled  to  the  bedside. 
Molly  showed  the  tiny  pink  hand  and  nails,  and 
then  Meg  suddenly  ran  away.  She  soon  reap- 
peared, dragging  all  her  own  best  raiment  after 
her,  and  a  pair  of  scarlet  gloves,  that  were  her 
delight,  in  her  hand. 

She  struggled  to  the  bedside,  clutching  the 
dainty  white  silk  coat  trimmed  with  fur,  that 
had  been  her  grandmother's  Christmas  gift,  close 
to  her,  and  the  Normandy  bonnet  was  trailing 
on  the  floor  behind  her. 

"  Bless  her  heart !  "  cried  Mrs.  Welles,  start- 
ing to  the  rescue.  "  She  is  bringing  her  choic- 
est for  her  brother." 

And  so  she  was ;  for  fine  as  the  coat  and  bon- 
net were,  the  gloves  were  the  last  purchase,  and 
dearer  to  her  than  anything  ;  the  other  things 
were  forgotten  as  soon  as  she  was  relieved  of 
them,  but  she  darted  to  the  bed  with  the  gloves, 
and  put  one  on  the  little  screwed-up  ball  of  a 
fist,  saying  as  she  did  so,  very  gravely,  "  He  shall 
have  my  carlat  gubs."  After  this  there  was  no 
trouble ;  Meg  seemed  to  think  the  baby  was  a 
larger  sort  of  doll  prepared  for  her  amusement, 
and  when  Molly  came  down-stairs  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  convince  her  that  she  could  not  have  it  to 
carry  round  and  play  with. 

Little  John,  as  they  named  the  new  baby,  was 


82  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

a  baby  without  a  history.  Happy  the  nations, 
women,  and  babies  who  are  so  !  It  was  almost 
exasperating  too,  for  it  disappointed  many  who 
had  looked  to  this  second  baby  to  refute  some  of 
Molly's  ways.  Mrs.  Bishop  senior  fell  back  on 
her  son's  constitution  and  temperament  again  to 
account  for  babies  that  persistently  throve  in  the 
absence  of  sufficient  food,  or  any  proper  medi- 
cine, or,  in  fact,  bringing  up  of  any  kind.  Molly 
herself  had  expected  a  totally  different  experi- 
ence with  this  baby,  knowing  well  how  children 
differ ;  but  except  as  months  went  on  she  found 
the  difference  in  temperament  between  boy  and 
girl  was  very  strongly  marked,  there  was  not 
much  for  her  to  change  in  the  bringing  up  of  the 
two.  Exactly  as  Meg  had  been  about  food,  so 
was  this  child.  He  slept  much  less,  but  he  was 
happy  and  good  when  awake,  and  nothing  de- 
lighted him  more  than  his  bath,  to  which  Meg 
had  never  taken  kindly,  until  old  enough  to 
stand  up  in  it  and  make  fun  for  herself. 

Molly  thought  she  had  so  many  blessings,  that 
at  times  she  had  a  fear  there  would  be  some 
drawback.  And  when  this  second  baby  came,  so 
healthy,  and  good,  and  she  herself  so  well,  she 
wondered  if  she  was  to  be  exempt  from  all  the 
trials  that  beset  so  many  women  —  and  what  she 
had  done  to  deserve  a  happiness  that  seemed  so 
serene.  We  who  know  her  recognize  that  she 


CLOUDS  ON  MOLLY'S  HORIZON.  83 

might  easily  have  created  a  few  miseries  for  her- 
self, had  her  nature  been  less  wholesome.  But 
of  late  she  was  troubled  with  a  vague  uneasiness. 
Her  husband  had  changed  very  much.  He  who 
was  once  so  gay  and  pleasure-loving,  now  had 
been  gradually  becoming  more  and  more  ab- 
sorbed in  business.  Molly  was  a  brave  wife  and 
told  herself  that  she  could  not  expect  her  hus- 
band to  differ  from  the  generality  of  men  who 
settled  down  into  business  harness.  She  had 
hitherto  in  her  mind's  eye  seen  herself  and 
Harry  going  down  life's  hill,  happy  and  merry 
as  they  were  now.  She  had  determined  for  her 
own  part  to  make  no  artificial  troubles ;  so  she 
resolved  to  say  nothing  of  his  changed  manner, 
to  cheer  him  when  she  could,  and  when  he  pre- 
ferred to  bury  himself  in  his  newspaper,  to  leave 
her  own  wish  to  talk,  or  do  anything  else,  unut- 
tered. 

But  as  months  went  on  her  own  gay  manner 
changed  insensibly,  for  Harry  grew  every  day 
more  preoccupied  and  was  almost  morose  at 
times.  His  happy  laugh  or  hearty  kiss  for  Meg 
at  the  gate  was  no  longer  the  first  intimation  she 
had  of  his  evening  home  coming.  He  passed 
both  Meg  and  little  John,  whom  once  he  had 
always  brought  into  the  house  on  his  shoulders, 
with  an  absent-minded  caress,  and  as  they  clung 
to  his  legs  or  fingers,  he  scarcely  seemed  to 


84  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

know  they  were  there  as  he  quietly  entered  the 
house  and  mechanically  kissed  Molly.  Some- 
times he  would  speak  impatiently,  almost  crossly, 
but  then  immediately  he  would  gather  the  one 
so  spoken  to,  Molly  or  Meg,  in  his  arms,  and  say 
some  tender,  remorseful  word  that  would  show 
poor  Molly  that  his  love  was  the  same.  Anx- 
iously she  would  search  his  face  sometimes,  and 
once  or  twice  she  had  asked  him  if  he  was  wor- 
ried or  had  any  trouble. 

"  My  dear,  business  men  always  are  worried 
at  times.  I  am  no  worse  off  than  any  other ;  but 
you  must  not  trouble  your  little  head  with  my 
glumness.  Every  man  who  goes  on  the  cars 
with  me  is  as  glum  as  an  oyster ;  that  is,  if  he 
is  not  one  of  the  irresponsible  men  of  business 
who  live  by  making  other  business  men  believe 
they  are  swimming  in  very  smooth  water." 

"  But  you  are  so  unlike  yourself,  Harry,  I 
can't  help  worrying  about  you." 

"  Then  you  must  not  Molly.  These  are  very 
serious  times,  and  my  father's  health  is  so  im- 
paired that  I  have  almost  more  than  I  can  at- 
tend to.  Don't  look  so  anxious,  dear;  come, 
let 's  say  '  begone  dull  care  '  and  send  it  to  the 
dogs.  I  do  need  something  to  shake  me  up ; 
come  to  New  York  this  afternoon,  Booth  is 
playing  Hamlet." 

Very  gladly  Molly  agreed  to  go,  hoping  Harry 


CLOUDS    ON  MOLLY'S  HORIZON.  85 

might  throw  off  his  raoodiness,  and  for  that  night 
they  enjoyed  themselves.  It  did  seem  like  old 
times  when  Harry  made  jokes  in  the  cars  as  they 
came  home,  —  and  for  a  day  or  two  Molly  flat- 
tered herself  that  he  was  regaining  his  old  light- 
heartedness ;  but  then  she  found  reason  to  fear 
that  it  was  assumed  for  her  benefit.  She  had 
long  suspected  he  did  not  sleep  so  soundly  at 
night  as  he  pretended,  that  while  she  slumbered 
he  lay  awake ;  and  when  this  suspicion  became 
pronounced,  her  own  sleep  was  very  light,  and 
she  found  he  did  lie  awake  for  hours,  and  when 
he  slept  it  was  an  uneasy,  dreamy  sleep  with 
broken  utterances  that  were  all  figures  and  busi- 
ness terms. 

She  felt  sure  now  that  he  had  troubles  he 
kept  from  her.  She  spoke  to  him  about  their 
expenditure. 

"  Harry,  let  me  know  if  we  are  spending  too 
much  money.  You  know  we  can  always  go 
back  to  our  old  limit,  or  half  of  it.  Nurse  is  no 
absolute  necessity,  and  in  these  hard  times  "  — 

Harry  burst  into  laughter,  yet  not  the  old 
hearty,  happy  laughter ;  there  was  a  sort  of  grim 
bitterness  in  it  which  wrung  Molly's  heart. 

"  My  dear,  do  you  know  that  my  father  spends 
$20,000  a  year  ?  my  mother  would  not  dream  of 
living  on  less.  Now,  I  have  only  a  fifth  share  in 
our  business ;  we  spend  less  than  half  my  income, 


86  MOLLY  BISHOP'S   FAMILY. 

but  you  can  see  for  yourself  that  in  so  large  a 
business,  even  if  we  saved  a  thousand  dollars 
more  a  year,  it  would  make  no  material  differ- 
ence. No,  dear  Molly,  the  few  poor  little  hun- 
dreds that  make  the  difference  between  hard 
work  and  ease  for  you  would  only  be  a  drop  in 
the  ocean.  Don't  worry,  dear,  —  we  are  doing 
right ;  if  there  is  any  worry,  leave  it  to  me." 
"  But,  Harry,  if  there  is  worry  let  me  share  it." 
He  kissed  her  very  tenderly,  and  told  her, 
business  men  had  always  worries.  "  When 
there  is  any  use  in  worrying  you,  dear,  you  shall 
have  your  share  ;  but  if  a  man  in  business  were 
to  tell  his  wife  all  that  he  has  to  think  of,  she 
would  be  frightened  at  possible  issues,  and  he 
would  be  unnerved." 

Molly  could  not  agree  with  him,  but  neither 
would  she  argue ;  she  knew  she  could  not  make 
her  husband  see  with  her  eyes,  and  she  allowed 
him  to  think  that  he  had  reassured  her ;  but 
so  far  from  doing  so,  she  now  felt  certain  that 
he  kept  some  trouble  from  her.  It  seemed  the 
wildest  nonsense,  only  to  be  conjured  up  in  a 
fanciful  woman's  brain,  to  fear  that  the  old  firm 
of  Bishop,  Whitehead  &  Bishop  could  be  in 
difficulties.  No,  that  she  did  not  fear.  Harry's 
father  was  a  business  man  of  the  old  school, 
cautious  and  conservative.  Mr.  Whitehead  in- 
terfered very  little,  and  the  business  had  flour- 
ished for  fifty  years. 


CLOUDS  ON  MOLLY'S  HORIZON.  87 

One  thing  might  have  accounted  for  Harry's 
changed  manner,  and  that  was  his  father's  fail- 
ing health,  only  that  for  two  years  past  Mr. 
Bishop's  share  of  the  office  work  had  devolved 
on  his  son,  and  had  seemed  to  cause  very  little 
anxiety.  There  had  later  come  a  fear  of  soften- 
ing of  the  brain,  and  the  physicians  had  ordered 
him  to  travel,  so  as  to  be  entirely  away  from 
business. 

The  old  gentleman  had  decided  to  go  to  the 
wheat  states,  and  to  California.  He  had  been 
absent  six  months,  and  the  last  few  weeks  he  had 
been  in  Chicago.  Mrs.  Bishop  sent  her  son 
encouraging  accounts  of  his  health,  and  these 
letters  he  passed  over  to  Molly. 

She  thought  and  thought,  haunted  by  a  pre- 
sentiment of  evil,  but  not  knowing  where  to  look 
for  the  blow  to  come  from.  In  this  trouble  she 
could  have  no  confidant,  or  comfort ;  not  even  to 
Mrs.  Welles  could  she  tell  her  anxieties.  The 
latter  saw  the  change  in  her  blithe  friend  and 
wondered  at  it.  But  at  this  time  she  was  not 
quite  so  observant  as  usual,  for  after  six  years 
of  married  life  she  was  preparing  baby  clothes. 

In  one  sense  this  was  not  only  a  joy  to  herself 
but  a  blessing  to  Molly,  who  entered  with  some- 
thing of  her  old  enthusiasm  into  her  friend's 
hopes.  Little  John  could  now  walk,  and  he  and 
Meg  would  trot  with  Molly  on  the  warm,  bright 


88  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

days  to  Mrs.  Welles's  piazza.  Annie,  who  was 
an  excellent  seamstress,  was  thus  free  to  make 
up  the  little  garments  which  Molly  cut  and 
fitted  for  her. 

Molly's  children,  by  the  way,  were  noticeably 
well  dressed,  with  less  trouble,  perhaps,  to  mother, 
nurse,  or  laundress  than  most  children  in  the 
same  position. 

Molly  eschewed  ruffles,  and  put  the  extra 
goods  that  they  would  take  into  the  quality,  so 
she  had  fine  cambric  frocks  at  about  the  same 
cost  as  coarse.  The  clothes  were  all  simply 
made  but  most  beautifully  fitted  ;  and  Molly  was 
an  eager  watcher  for  picturesque  patterns,  such 
as  were  pretty  without  regard  to  the  fashion, 
which  a  great  authority  says  is  the  true  test  of 
beauty  in  clothes;  then  they  were  very  neatly 
sewed  and  finished ;  where  there  was  embroidery 
or  lace,  it  was  small  in  quantity  and  fine  in  quality. 

Mrs.  Welles  frankly  told  Molly  that  her  baby 
was  to  be  a  good  old-fashioned  one.  It  should 
not  be  dosed,  but  she  intended  to  rock  it  to  sleep 
and  let  it  feed  when  it  liked.  "  That 's  the  way 
I  was  brought  up,  and  although  your  darlings 
are  models,  I  still  think,  my  dear,  they  have 
your  own  sweet,  contented  nature,  and  would  have 
been  so  anyhow  ;  they  are  of  the  placid  kind." 

"  Do  you  call  John  placid?  " 

"  No,  but  he  is  a  boy ;  he  is  good,  but  there 


THE    WAYS   OF  BABIES.  89 

seems  a  good  deal  of  the  natural  Adam  in  him, 
I  confess." 

Molly  smiled ;  perhaps  she  alone  knew  how 
much  of  that  natural  Adam  there  was  latent  in 
her  boy,  how  closely  she  was  watching  him,  and 
checking  the  first  little  tendency  to  fault,  before 
it  became  a  fault.  A  raised  finger,  a  grave  look 
now,  would  save  graver  punishment  later.  But 
all  this  little  motherly  strategy  could  not  be  ex- 
plained, it  could  only  be  observed  by  one  inter- 
ested in  noticing  closely.  She  remembered  one 
indignant  young  mother  who  had  said : 

"  That  just  maddens  me,  —  people  say,  '  Oh, 
but  your  child  has  such  a  lovely  disposition,  you 
can't  judge  of  other  children  by  that  one  ! '  As 
if  its  disposition  was  n't  human,  and  as  if  I 
had  n't  been  watching  like  a  lynx  to  repress  its 
little  bad  ways  and  encourage  its  good  ones ; 
and  then  when  he  does  n't  cry  for  the  moon,  and 
is  a  happy  cherub  as  babies  were  meant  to  be, 
I  am  told  it 's  all  owing  to  his  own  placid 
nature !  " 

Molly  was  by  no  means  angry  about  it,  as 
was  her  young  friend,  but  she  was  quietly 
amused. 

"  I  foresee,  Charlotte,  you  are  going  to  intro- 
duce a  small  Moloch  and  sacrifice  yourself  on  its 
altar." 

"  I  am  willing  ;  but,  my  dear  Molly,  if  my  baby 


90  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

should  be  a  tyrant  it  will  only  show  the  natural 
depravity  of  some  infants." 

The  conversation  was  carried  on  laughingly. 
Mrs.  Welles's  good-humor  was  rarely  ruffled, 
and  Molly  really  believed  her  warm-hearted 
friend  would  enjoy  lavishing  herself  upon  an 
outrageous  baby.  And  so  the  event  proved. 

Never  was  a  child  endowed  with  such  lungs, 
and  such  power  of  gaining  its  will  with  them,  as 
little  Lois  Welles.  Before  it  was  three  months 
old  it  had  learned  to  cry  for  everything  it  craved, 
but  as  there  seemed  only  two  things  that  what 
Harry  called  the  little  "Mollusk"  can  crave  at 
that  age,  its  mother's  arms  and  its  mother's 
food,  and  its  mother  delighted  in  satisfying  it, 
there  was  no  difficulty.  Mrs.  Welles  showed 
her  fine  white  teeth  with  her  heartiest  laugh 
when  the  impatient  baby  resented  even  a  mo- 
ment's delay  in  satisfying  it,  by  making  itself 
rigid  from  head  to  heel,  and  lifting  its  body  into 
a  small  arc,  and  knocking  its  own  poor  little 
nose  with  its  fists  in  its  rage. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  spirited  little  thing. 
I  know  you  're  shocked,  Molly,  but  I  love  its  an- 
tics, and  so  does  Cuthbert.  (Cuthbert  was  Mr. 
Welles's  name.)  It  is  so  deliciously  absurd  to 
see  such  a  helpless  mite  in  a  rage  !  " 

Molly  was  n't  a  bit  shocked. 

Mrs.  Welles  was  a  woman  of   large  means, 


MRS.  WELLES.  91 

perfect  in  health,  and  of  the  sweet,  easy-going 
temperament  that  half-a-dozen  spoilt  children 
would  not  have  worried,  although  they  might 
have  wearied  her.  Mr.  Welles  might,  if  there 
should  be  a  second  child  that  exacted  all  its 
mother's  time,  feel  some  right  to  it  himself,  but 
at  present  he  was  absorbed  in  watching  the* 
growth  and  development  of  this  one,  and  if  the 
development  was  in  the  direction  of  temper  it 
was  but  the  more  amusing. 

As  I  have  said,  considering  Mrs.  Welles's 
health,  temperament,  and  financial  position,  Molly 
was  not  shocked  nor  worried  for  her.  She  did 
not  by  any  means  think  that  spoilt  babies  or 
spoilt  children  made  bad  men  and  women,  pro- 
vided the  spoiling  did  not  extend  to  weak  indul- 
gence toward  any  moral  laxity.  Although  still 
a  young  woman,  Molly  had  lived  long  enough  to 
see  children  whose  parents  and  friends  had  been 
martyrs,  of  whose  future  terrible  predictions 
had  been  made,  grow  out  of  their  faults  and 
make  particularly  nice  boys  and  girls,  and  she 
had  no  fear  for  Mrs.  Welles's  children.  She 
knew  her  friend  would  indulge  them  in  every- 
thing that  called  only  on  her  own  or  her  servants' 
patience,  but  when  it  came  to  the  formation  of 
their  character  she  would  carefully  watch  them, 
and  be  firm  enough  in  checking  any  evil  ten- 
dency. She  herself  did  not  care  to  be  a  mar- 


92  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

tyr  for  the  first  years  of  her  children's  life. 
And  had  Mrs.  Welles  been  a  woman  with  many 
of  life's  burdens,  it  would  have  troubled  Molly 
to  see  her  deliberately  creating  fresh  ones,  which 
would  wear  her  life  away  ;  but  Charlotte  Welles 
being  what  she  was,  situated  as  she  was,  she  was 
amused  to  see  her  gleeful  motherhood. 

Her  own  children  were  a  great  solace  to  poor 
Molly  in  these  days,  for  as  months  went  by 
Harry's  mood  did  not  change ;  or,  rather,  he  did 
have  spells  of  more  than  his  old  gayety,  but  they 
did  not  deceive  his  loving  wife.  She  guessed 
too  truly  that  it  was  put  on  for  her  benefit. 

She  was  so  preoccupied  that  she  did  not  ob- 
serve Charlotte's  anxious  look  at  her  one  day 
that  she  tore  herself  away  from  the  absorbing 
Lois.  Mrs.  Welles's  visit  was  consequent  on  a 
conversation  which  had  passed  between  herself 
and  husband  the  evening  before. 

"I'm  afraid  Bishop,  Whitehead  &  Bishop 
are  in  serious  trouble,"  said  Cuthbert,  "  and  that 
accounts  for  Harry's  changed  ways.  I  have 
feared  it  some  time." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  You  can't  mean  they 
are  about  to  fail  ?  I  thought  it  was  considered 
one  of  the  most  stable  firms  in  this  country !  " 
cried  Charlotte. 

"  So  it  is,  or  was ;  but  a  madman  can  swamp 
the  stoutest  ship  if  he  bores  a  hole  in  it,  —  and 


BUSINESS   TROUBLES.  93 

old  Bishop's  brain  was  giving  way  a  year  ago. 
He  ought  never  to  have  been  in  a  position  since 
to  sign  the  firm  name,  but  I  expect,  though  he 
got  physically  better  on  his  travels,  he  has  men- 
tally broken  down.  His  pompous  fool  of  a 
wife  has  n't  enough  brain  herself  to  see  it,  so  he 
has  been  practically  unchecked." 

"But  tell  me  quickly  what  has  happened. 
Think  of  dear  Molly." 

"  Nothing  has  happened,  and  I  trust  nothing 
may.  Young  Bishop  is  a  power  and  may  suc- 
ceed in  keeping  the  firm  afloat,  but  the  fact  is, 
for  some  time  past  it  has  been  known  that  the 
old  man  has  been  speculating  in  wheat.  This 
surprised  every  one  who  knew  the  traditions  of 
the  firm,  and  there  came  heavy  losses  ;  nothing, 
however,  very  serious  until  to-day,  when  there  is 
a  report  that  old  Mr.  Bishop  has  bought  enor- 
mously of  wheat,  for  a  rise.  Those  Chicago 
fellows  have  got  hold  of  him,  and  as  he  has  re- 
cently been  over  the  wheat-growing  districts,  I 
suppose  he  thought  himself  a  match  for  them ; 
at  all  events,  there  is  a  tremendous  fall  in  wheat, 
and  it  is  said  that  a  million  will  not  cover  the 
Bishops'  loss." 

Charlotte  turned  pale  as  she  listened. 

"  Poor  Molly  !  poor,  dear  Molly  !  "  she  said  ; 
"  she  has  looked  so  anxious  lately  that  I  fear  she 
has  not  been  without  suspicion  of  coming  trouble. 


94  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

What  a  shame  it  seems  that  people  who  have 
lived  so  wisely  and  so  simply  should  have 
trouble  of  this  kind  !  " 

"  Can't  be  helped,  my  dear ;  it  would  have 
been  just  the  same  if  Harry  and  Molly  had 
taken  all  the  comfort  of  their  means,  for  they 
are  not  the  people  to  save  anything  out  of  the 
wreck." 

"  Oh  dear,  I  do  wish  Molly  had  consented  to 
have  the  pony  carriage  Harry  wanted  to  buy 
her." 

"  If  I  know  Molly  she  will  be  glad  she  did 
not,"  said  Mr.  Welles  ;  "  it  would  make  no  dif- 
ference to  the  result,  but  she  will  take  comfort 
that  she  denied  herself  the  luxury.  If,  as  you 
think,  she  has  seen  the  blow  coming,  it  may  be 
better,  for  it  will  fall  less  suddenly ;  and  after 
all,"  he  said  more  cheerfully,  seeing  his  wife's 
pained  face,  "  it  may  all  blow  over,  and  if  it 
does  I  hope  Harry  will  put  a  stop  to  his  father's 
folly  without  scruple." 

But  alas  for  our  friends  !  The  storm  did  not 
blow  over  —  Bishop,  Whitehead  &  Bishop  failed  ; 
and  then  it  was  that  Molly  learned  what  Harry 
had  hoped  it  might  never  be  necessary  for  her 
to  know,  the  terrible  load  of  anxiety  he  had  had 
to  bear,  and  the  efforts  he  had  been  called  upon 
to  make  to  avert  the  catastrophe,  if  possible,  or 
be  ready  to  meet  it  if  it  must  come ;  but  a  folly 


BUSINESS   TROUBLES.  95 

greater  than  even  he  could  foresee  or  anticipate 
had  brought  all  his  efforts  to  nothing.  He 
knew  that  he  had  himself  greatly  to  blame,  for 
if  he  had  persuaded  Mr.  Whitehead  to  join 
him  they  might  perhaps  have  deprived  the  head 
of  the  firm  of  the  power  to  ruin  them ;  but 
what  son  could  so  act  against  his  father  ?  who, 
after  all,  exhibited  no  other  trace  of  softening 
of  the  brain  than  his  loss  of  business  judgment, 
and  a  total  reversal  of  all  his  former  business 
methods,  and  adoption  of  those  which,  after 
all,  were  the  methods  of  many  men  in  full  pos- 
session of  their  wits. 

He  had  not  been  able  to  bring  himself  to 
depose  his  father  in  this  way.  He  had  written 
to  his  mother  to  exercise  her  influence,  but  she 
wrote  back  that  Mr.  Bishop  resented  any  inter- 
ference in  his  business,  and  he  would  neither 
tell  her  anything  nor  listen  to  her. 

Harry  then  wrote  to  his  father  entreating  him 
to  return  to  New  York,  alleging  that  he  could 
not  possibly  manage  without  him ;  but  Mr.  Bishop 
was  obstinate  if  nothing  else,  and  told  his  son 
he  must  call  Whitehead  to  his  aid.  Mr.  White- 
head's  father  had  at  one  time  been  the  mainstay 
of  the  business.  His  son  gave  very  little  more 
than  his  name ;  he  was  generally  away  with  his 
yacht,  and  no  one  would  have  spurned  the  idea 
of  his  being  of  any  utility  in  the  business  more 


96  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

readily  than  Mr.  Bishop  when  his  mind  was  in 
its  normal  condition. 

As  not  unfrequently  happens,  after  the  blow 
had  fallen  and  ruin  could  no  longer  be  averted, 
Harry  Bishop  seemed  easier  in  mind.  He  had 
broken  the  bad  news  to  Molly,  and  had  found 
her,  as  he  knew  he  would,  brave  and  sympa- 
thetic, only  reproaching  him  that  he  had  kept 
his  anxieties  from  her. 

"You  must  promise,  Harry,  never  to  do  that 
again.  No  matter  what  dreadful  thing  you  fear, 
nothing  can  be  so  dreadful  to  me  as  to  be  left 
out  of  your  confidence." 

"  It  was  for  your  sake,  Molly  dear." 

"  I  know,  but  it  saved  me  nothing  ;  I  worried 
just  as  much,  for  I  knew  you  were  in  trouble." 

"  Well,  dear,  I  promise  I  will  share  all 
trouble  with  you  in  future ;  but  we  hope  that 
the  worst  has  happened,  for  another  year  such  as 
the  last  would  make  an  old  man  of  me." 

But  that  night  he  slept  profoundly,  the  first 
time  in  months. 

Poor  Molly  !     Poor  Harry ! 

Of  course  nothing  but  the  fact  that  the  firm 
had  failed  was  known  for  a  few  days.  Not  even 
Harry  could  tell  whether  anything  could  honor- 
ably be  saved  from  the  wreck  or  not.  He  worked 
harder  than  ever,  staying  at  the  office  till  very 
late,  coming  home  on  the  owl  train  three  or  four 
times  a  week. 


PREMONITION.  97 

Molly  tried  to  hope  that  as  soon  as  he  could 
settle  up  affairs  he  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
finding  a  position  as  bookkeeper  in  some  large 
firm.  He  himself  expressed  no  anxiety  on  that 
account,  but  he  was  very  much  troubled,  when 
he  had  time  to  think  of  anything,  about  the 
future  of  his  father  and  mother.  How  would 
they  live  ?  His  mother  had  no  idea  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  doing  without  anything  that  money 
could  buy. 

One  morning  he  came  down  to  breakfast 
looking  rather  more  rested  than  usual.  He 
stooped  and  lifted  little  John  who  had  toddled 
forward  with  Meg  for  the  morning  greeting. 
He  put  him  down  suddenly  without  the  expected 
toss  and  kiss,  and  the  boy's  big  blue  eyes  gazed 
wondering  at  his  father.  But  Harry  had  uttered 
a  slight  exclamation  of  pain  that  attracted 
Molly's  attention. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Harry?  " 

"  Oh,  nothing,"  he  said,  smiling ;  "  what  you 
women  call  a  *  stitch,'  I  suppose,  only  it  is  in  my 
shoulder."  He  put  his  hand  just  below  the  col- 
lar-bone to  indicate  the  spot,  and  said  cheerily : 
"  It 's  too  sharp  to  last ;  pour  out  coffee,  Molly, 
for  I  must  not  lose  my  train,  and  this  pain  hin- 
dered my  shaving.  Don't  be  uneasy,  dear,  it  is 
too  sudden  to  be  anything  but  muscular." 

Molly  handed  his  coffee  and  he  broke  his  egg, 


98  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

but  the  pain  increased  every  second ;  every 
breath  he  drew  went  like  a  knife  through  his 
lungs. 

"  Dear  Harry,  let  me  send  for  Doctor  Price." 

"  But,  my  dear,  I  am  quite  well !  I  felt  in 
unusually  good  spirits  when  I  got  up." 

But  every  breath  was  pain,  and  Molly  said 
nothing  but  slipped  from  the  room  and  returned 
in  five  minutes  with  a  mustard  plaster.  Harry 
still  sat  with  his  egg  chipped  but  untouched; 
his  coffee  he  had  partly  drank,  but  he  was  lis- 
tening with  his  usual  good-natured  smile  to 
Meg's  grave  prattle.  His  hand  was  held  to  his 
shoulder.  He  laughed  when  he  saw  Molly  with 
her  warm  plate  and  the  poultice  upon  it. 

"  You  are  determined  I  am  to  be  an  invalid, 
dear.  I  am  sorry  to  disappoint  you,  but  I  can- 
not help  it.  I  have  lost  this  train,  I  suppose,  but 
I  really  must  take  the  next." 

"  Very  well,  but  you  have  half  an  hour  at 
home  ;  now  let  me  put  the  poultice  on,  it  cannot 
do  any  harm,  and  may,  if  the  pain  is  rheuma- 
tism, cure  you.  You  can  eat  your  breakfast  mean- 
while, and  I  will  prepare  some  cotton  batting  to 
prevent  your  taking  cold  if  you  must  go  to  the 
office  to-day." 

"  Must  go !  my  dear  Molly,  I  must  go,  if  I 
have  to  be  carried  there,  to-day  of  all  days  ;  but 
I  will  have  the  plaster  if  you  say  I  must." 


THE  DOCTOR  SUMMONED.  99 

He  was  so  well,  so  unconscious  of  other  ail- 
ment, although  evidently  suffering,  that  Molly's 
fears  began  to  subside.  It  must  be  something  as 
purely  local  as  toothache. 

But  when  the  time  came  to  start  for  the  next 
train,  Harry  was  on  the  lounge,  the  mustard 
plaster  had  not  reddened  the  skin,  and  the  pain 
was  still  sharper  with  every  breath  he  drew. 

"  Now,  Harry,  I  will  send  for  Doctor  Price." 

"Yes,  do.  He  must  give  me  something  or 
other  to  kill  this,  and  get  me  down  town  to-day." 

Molly  flew  to  the  kitchen  and  told  Marta  to 
run  for  the  doctor.  She  had  taken  the  precau- 
tion to  bid  her  be  ready  before.  When  she 
returned  to  the  parlor  Harry  had  changed  con- 
siderably. 

"  Give  me  a  blanket,  Molly,  I  am  shivering, 
yet  it  is  not  cold,"  he  said,  as  she  entered. 

Molly  knew  the  chill  meant  illness,  but  she 
said  not  a  word.  She  covered  Harry  up,  went 
out  and  sent  Anna  up  to  prepare  the  bed  for 
Harry,  looked  to  the  rubber  hot-water  bottle, 
and  then  returned  to  the  children.  To  Meg  she 
had  given  her  oatmeal  and  milk  as  soon  as  her 
father's  coffee  was  passed,  and  John  had  been 
given  a  crust  of  bread  until  Anna  should  be 
ready  to  attend  to  him  ;  but  the  unexpected  sur- 
prise had  scared  Anna  and  Molly  so  that  little 
Johnny's  breakfast  was  forgotten,  yet  he  sat  with 


100  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

perfect  contentment,  mumbling  his  crust.  The 
moment  he  saw  his  own  porridge,  however,  down 
the  crust  went,  and  he  reached  and  jabbered  for 
his  breakfast.  Molly  quietly  fed  him,  her  heart 
heavier  than  lead,  her  eyes  filling  in  spite  of 
every  effort  at  self-control.  Stealthily  she  brushed 
the  tears  away,  for  fear  Meg  might  see  them  and 
exclaim,  and  Harry  must  not  guess  her  anxiety. 

When  the  doctor  arrived  she  sent  the  children 
away,  and  then  stood  behind  Harry's  head  that 
she  might  watch  the  doctor's  face  unseen  by  her 
husband. 

But  it  revealed  little.  He  asked  if  he  had 
taken  cold  ?  "  No."  Had  he  been  conscious  of 
cough,  or  oppression  of  the  chest  ?  "  No." 

Harry  answered  the  questions  readily,  assured 
the  doctor  that  now  the  chill  was  over  he  felt 
well,  quite  well  enough  to  go  to  New  York,  if 
only  he  could  give  him  something  to  numb  the 
pain.  The  doctor  laughed.  "  My  dear  fellow, 
you  must  not  think  of  going  out  of  the  house  to- 
day. It  will  be  lucky  if  by  care  to-day  you  can 
go  to-morrow." 

"  Nonsense,  doctor !  That 's  all  very  well, 
but  you  have  to  pull  me  up ;  give  me  a  hypoder- 
mic or  something  for  this  neuralgia,  for  I  sup- 
pose that  is  what  it  is." 

Molly  looked  eagerly  at  Doctor  Price.  If  it 
should  only  be  neuralgia  !  but  his  face  betrayed 
nothing. 


MOLLY  A    WIDOW.  101 

"  Mr.  Bishop,  you  cannot  go  to  New  York  to- 
day ;  I  absolutely  forbid  it.  You  must  go  to  bed 
and  take  the  medicine  I  leave.  We  will  renew 
that  plaster  with  one  that  I  will  mix  myself,  and 
in  the  afternoon  I  will  see  you  again." 

Harry  protested,  but  perhaps  it  was  fortunate 
that  the  pain  in  his  lung  enforced  the  doctor's 
words.  He  recognized  that  he  could  speak  only 
between  gasps  of  pain. 

"  Doctor,  doctor,  can  you  do  nothing  to  en- 
able me  to  go  to-day  ?  I  could  better  stay  away 
all  next  week  than  to-day  !  " 

There  was  a  look  of  desperate  anxiety  in  his 
face  as  he  listened  to  the  doctor's  assurances 
that  he  would  not  answer  for  the  consequences 
should  he  persist  in  leaving  the  house.  "  I  am 
much  mistaken  if  you  would  not  find  yourself 
forced  to  return  home  on  the  next  train  if  you 
went ! " 

There  was  no  gainsaying  this.  Harry  hastily 
wrote  two  telegrams,  then  suffered  himself  to  be 
put  to  bed. 

Molly  had  heard  the  doctor  say  he  would  re- 
turn in  the  afternoon  as  if  it  were  a  knell.  She 
knew  he  feared  something  very  serious. 

"  What  do  you  think  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"  I  can't  say  just  yet ;  I  fear  pneumonia, 
but"  — 

At   the  dreaded  word   "  pneumonia "    Molly 


102  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

uttered  an  exclamation,  although  she  had  been 
prepared  for  it. 

"  Oh,  doctor,  that  is  such  a  terrible  thing ! 
and  he  is  so  worried  !  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  really  the  serious  part.  His 
mind  ought  to  be  kept  very  quiet,  but  as  I  say,  I 
still  hope  the  pain  may  be  only  muscular;  he 
has  as  yet  no  fever,  and  seems  so  well  that  I 
hope  for  the  best." 

But  by  the  afternoon  the  fever  and  a  cough 
had  come.  Then  the  dreaded  pneumonia  was 
declared  in  its  most  serious  form.  A  second 
physician  was  called  in  consultation  and  every 
expedient  resorted  to,  but  there  was  no  hope 
from  the  first.  His  worn-out  mental  condition, 
that  had  conduced  to  the  disease,  prevented 
any  hope  of  recovery,  and  in  three  days  Molly 
Bishop  was  a  widow. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
MOLLY'S  THIRD  BABY. — WAYS  AND  MEANS. 

MOLLY  was  a  widow !  The  phrase  is  preg- 
nant with  sadness  even  when  the  widow  has  less 
to  regret  in  the  loss  of  her  husband,  even  when 
there  is  no  loss  of  home  and  support  connected 
with  the  grief.  But  to  Molly,  for  weeks  there 
were  no  degrees  of  sorrow ;  nothing  could  have 
made  it  lighter,  no  accumulation  of  trouble  have 
deepened  it.  Harry  had  been  everything  to  her, 
without  him  the  sun  seemed  gone  from  the 
world.  Only  by  degrees  did  she  realize  that  in 
Meg  and  little  John  she  had  blessings  to  which 
she  must  look  for  alleviation  to  her  grief  ;  that 
she  must  brace  herself  to  meet  the  future,  dark 
as  it  was,  for  their  sakes  —  theirs  and  one  other 
than  theirs ;  for  three  months  later  Molly's  third 
child  was  born.  During  these  three  terrible 
months,  those  who  loved  Molly  were  in  sad  anx- 
iety as  to  her  future,  and  she  herself  had  been 
forced  to  rouse  to  speak  and  think  of  business. 
Yet  she  had  not  begun  to  form  plans,  had  not 
known,  in  fact,  whether  certain  hopes  Harry  had 


104  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

had  of  securing  something  from  the  wreck  when 
all  assets  were  realized  were  well  founded  or 
not.  She  had  felt  it  impossible  to  go  into  the 
question,  but  others  cherished  no  illusions. 

Bishop,  Whitehead  &  Bishop  had  come  to 
utter  ruin.  There  would  not  be  a  dollar.  For- 
tunately for  Mrs.  Bishop,  senior,  the  large, 
handsome  house  that  had  been  the  home  of  the 
Bishops  was  her  own.  But  Molly's  house  was 
part  of  the  Bishop  estate,  and  would  have  to  be 
given  up.  Neither  this  nor  any  sad  fact  that 
could  be  hidden  from  her  was  allowed  to  trou- 
ble her  until  after  the  birth  of  the  poor  posthu- 
mous baby. 

Unfortunately  this  baby,  brought  into  the 
world  under  miserable  auspices,  was  a  very  dif- 
ferent child  from  Meg  or  John.  Molly,  in  ad- 
dition to  a  mother's  joys,  which  alone  had  been 
hers  so  far,  without  any  of  the  weary  vigils  that 
make  infancy  so  often  a  health-breaking  period 
for  the  mother,  now  knew  what  it  was  to  try 
vainly  to  soothe  a  restless  infant. 

It  was  not  sickly,  but  very  nervous  and  wake- 
ful. And  when  it  was  but  a  few  weeks  old, 
Molly  found  she  could  not  nurse  it.  All  this 
served  to  rouse  her  from  the  apathy  of  sorrow 
into  which  she  might  otherwise  have  drifted. 
And  very  soon,  too,  came  that  other  stern  ne- 
cessity that  seems  so  often  the  aggravation  of 


MOLLY'S  THIRD  BABY.  105 

our  grief,  but  which  is  generally  a  hidden  bless- 
ing ;  I  mean  the  necessity  of  looking  poverty  in 
the  face  and  devising  ways  and  means  to  avert 
it. 

Something  Molly  must  do  for  the  support  of 
herself  and  children.  At  the  first  glance,  it 
seemed  as  if  so  bright  a  woman  could  have  no 
difficulty.  She  could  do  several  things  well,  and 
one  unusually  well. 

"  You  must  write,"  said  Mrs.  Lennox.  "  My 
husband  has  always  said  if  you  would  write  just 
as  you  talk,  you  would  make  a  success !  " 

"  Oh,  but,"  Molly  had  answered,  "  I  could  not 
write  anything  but  a  cooking-book,  and  I  have 
read  so  much  of  the  struggles  writers  have  to 
meet  with  before  they  can  earn  a  dollar,  that  al- 
though I  am  quite  willing  to  believe  that  any  one 
who  writes  on  a  subject  with  which  she  is  thor- 
oughly acquainted  will  be  successful,  and  make 
money,  it  is  not  a  safe  staff  for  a  woman  with 
children  to  lean  upon.  If  I  had  even  a  very  nar- 
row income  just  to  keep  starvation  off,  and  were 
out  of  debt,  I  think  I  would  risk  the  weary  time 
of  apprenticeship  which  would  probably,  unless 
I  should  be  unusually  fortunate,  last  some  years  ; 
but  I  remember  being  told,  when  I  had  a  girlish 
ambition  to  support  myself  by  writing,  that  Sir 
Walter  Scott  said,  '  literature  is  a  good  crutch 
but  a  bad  staff,'  and  I  chose  teaching  because  I 
needed  a  staff,  as  I  do  now." 


106  MOLLY  UJSnOP'S  FAMILY. 

Mrs.  Lennox  was  too  practical  not  to  see  that 
Molly  must  begin  to  make  money  quickly,  or  the 
little  capital  she  had  —  less  than  five  thousand 
dollars  —  would  melt  away.  Mrs.  Welles's  sug- 
gestion was  that  Molly  should  start  a  cooking- 
school.  She  herself  had  been  before  her  mar- 
riage a  lecturer  on  cooking  in  England,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  graduates  from  the  South  Ken- 
sington School  of  Cookery,  but  her  career  was 
cut  short  by  her  marriage  to  a  wealthy  Ameri- 
can, Mr.  Welles.  Molly  too  had  made  cookery 
a  study,  partly  from  natural  love  for  it,  partly  in 
order  to  economize  time  and  money  when  she 
should  have  a  house  of  her  own ;  for  she  had 
early  seen  that  by  knowing  cooking  by  exact 
methods,  as  taught  in  the  cooking  -  schools  of 
London  and  America,  meals  which  it  would  take 
the  uninstructed  cook  hours  to  prepare,  and  then 
only  with  worry  and  difficulty,  could  be  done, 
and  were  done  at  every  cookery  demonstration, 
in  one  quarter  the  time. 

She  saw  that  it  was  the  same  thing  as  an 
amateur  workman  making  a  table  or  stool,  and  a 
carpenter  doing  the  same.  In  the  one  case,  slow, 
uncertain  work,  with  alterations,  vexations,  and 
as  a  result  a  clumsy  article ;  in  the  other,  swift, 
sure  work,  every  stroke  of  saw  or  hammer  tell- 
ing, and  in  a  quarter  of  the  time  a  sightly  result. 

She  would  have  very  little  to  learn  to  make 


WAI'S  AND    MEANS.  107 

her  capable  of  teaching  the  "  dainty  art "  she 
loved,  and  Mrs.  Welles  would  gladly  have  gone 
back  to  old  times  and  coached  her  where  she 
was  lacking. 

"  I  should  love  to  see  you  well  started  in  that 
career,  Molly,  because  just  what  you  would  do  is 
needed.  You  are  a  thinker,  and  beside  teaching 
how  to  make  this  and  that  dish,  you  would  teach 
that  cooking  is  a  profession  like  any  other  ;  that 
the  adept  with  very  little  time  can  evolve  excel- 
lent dishes  out  of  very  cheap  materials,  while  an 
untrained  woman  would  have  to  give  hours  to 
the  same  work. 

"  The  difficulty,  I  think,  with  many  who  try 
to  cook  by  rule  of  thumb  is  that  the  time  they 
seem  to  require  discourages  them ;  and  then, 
though  time  is  required  to  make  elaborate 
dishes,  very  simple  ones  require  a  great  deal 
more  attention  than  they  get,  although  the  actual 
time  bestowed  need  be  very  little." 

Molly  would  have  dearly  loved  to  choose  this 
pursuit  in  preference  to  all  others,  but  she  was 
handicapped  by  her  three  children  and  the  ne- 
cessity for  quick  success,  which  she  could  hardly 
expect.  If  she  launched  herself  as  a  teacher  of 
cooking  it  would  naturally  take  many  months, 
perhaps  years,  for  her  to  make  herself  known. 
Had  she  been  alone  in  the  world,  with  only  her- 
self to  provide  for,  she  would  have  taken  her 


108  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

chances.  She  would  have  taught  cooking  wher- 
ever and  whenever  she  could  have  found  on  op- 
portunity until  she  was  well  enough  known  to 
start  a  school,  and  her  spare  time  should  have 
been  devoted  to  pen  work. 

But  she  had  to  find  a  home  for  her  three  chil- 
dren, and  keep  her  little  capital  as  nearly  intact 
as  possible ;  therefore  she  had  not  many  months 
to  give  to  making  her  way. 

The  problem  before  her  was  just  this  :  to  find 
some  employment  for  her  time  which  would 
yield  a  decent  livelihood  speedily  for  herself  and 
family  ;  which  would  not  necessitate  her  leaving 
home,  and  would  promise  enough  success  in  the 
future  to  enable  her  to  educate  her  children. 

For  the  same  reason  that  Molly  decided 
against  cooking-lessons,  congenial  as  they  would 
have  been  to  her,  she  had  to  decide  against  open- 
ing a  school  for  children,  —  one  of  the  things  sug- 
gested. That  also  must  be  a  very  slow  success. 
Of  all  plans,  the  one  that  seemed  most  feasible 
was  that  she  should  take  orders  for  fine  cooking. 
This  might  not  have  very  quick  results,  but  she 
knew  she  would  be  without  competitors  in  the 
making  of  certain  articles. 

Mrs.  Welles,  who,  as  her  most  intimate  friend, 
was  in  constant  consultation  with  her,  was  very 
sanguine  about  this  plan. 

"  I  don't  see,  Molly,  why  you  should  not  do 


WATS  AND  MEANS.  109 

very  well  indeed  in  making  only  a  few  things 
that  are  not  easily  purchasable,  or  at  least,  not 
of  first  rate  quality.  Why,  look  in  London ! 
How  many  have  made  fortunes  by  making  one 
thing  better  than  any  one  else !  There  are  Wat- 
ling's  pork  pies  and  Buzzard's  pound  cake  and 
plum  puddings !  Those  two  men  have  not  made 
a  living  only  but  a  large  fortune.  Now  why 
should  not  superlatively  good  pound  cake,  or 
veal  and  ham  pies,  etc.,  take  here  ?  " 

"  But  people  don't  know  anything  of  veal  and 
ham  pies  here.  I  think  I  had  better  decide  on 
something  else." 

"  Oh  !  traveled  people  do  know  them  ;  and  then, 
has  n't  every  one  read  of  Mrs.  Boffin's  4  Weal 
and  hammer,'  and  don't  you  suppose  they  have 
wondered  what  it  is,  and  wanted  to  taste  it? 
Supply  creates  demand,  so  I  should  not  wonder 
if  even  raised  pork  pies  would  be  a  success ;  in- 
deed, I  have  no  doubt  there  are  English  people 
enough  in  the  country  to  make  them  pay,  only 
it  would  require  time  to  make  them  known. 
Then  there  are  German  specialties  that  are  im- 
ported here,  and  bring  a  high  price ;  those  you 
could  make." 

"  Yes,"  said  Molly  thoughtfully,  "  I  have  of- 
ten thought,  when  I  have  heard  educated  women 
casting  about  for  means  of  a  livelihood,  that  I 
would  find  out  some  of  the  imported  eatables 


110  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

sold  at  a  high  price,  practice  till  I  could  make 
them  perfectly,  and  then  send  them  to  the  ex- 
changes. The  great  thing  will  be  to  decide  what 
are  the  articles  that  there  will  be  most  demand 
for." 

"  Yes,  and  that  are  not  already  made.  The 
field  is  wide  enough.  A  few  years  ago  extra 
fine  preserves  would  have  been  well  to  begin 
with.  The  peach  season  is  just  coming,  but  sev- 
eral are  doing  that  business  and  more  could  do 
it.  Now  we  must  think  of  something  that  no  one 
could  do  but  you,  or  some  one  like  you  who  has 
learned  the  cooking  of  three  countries." 

"  And  who  has  a  friend  like  Charlotte  to 
coach  me  in  the  secrets  of  famous  English  deli- 
cacies," said  Molly,  with  some  of  her  old  arch- 
ness. Sad  as  the  necessity  seems  for  a  widow 
to  be  obliged  to  look  round  for  a  living  for  her- 
self and  children  while  her  grief  is  yet  fresh,  it 
was  the  greatest  blessing  to  Molly.  Her  love 
for  her  husband  had  been  of  the  kind  which 
might  have  made  her  widowhood  the  end  of  her 
youth  and  brightness,  had  she  been  left  with 
comfortable  means.  She  would  probably  have 
sunk  into  the  apathetic  performance  of  her 
motherly  duties,  and  into  a  chronic  sadness  in- 
jurious to  herself  and  children.  But  this  press- 
ing necessity  of  bread-winning  absorbed  her 
thoughts;  the  certainty  that,  unless  she  could 


WAYS  AND  MEANS.  Ill 

do  something  beyond  what  average  women 
could  do  as  bread-winners,  her  children  must 
sink  into  extreme  poverty,  and,  worse  than  any 
other  evil  of  poverty,  must  live  in  such  a  neigh- 
borhood as  other  people  of  very  small  means, 
and  be  exposed  to  the  bad  air  and  see  sights  and 
hear  words  that  every  refined  woman  shrinks 
from,  even  for  herself,  and  yet  which  cannot  be 
avoided  in  a  crowded  neighborhood. 

Bread  and  milk  and  a  garret  would  have  had 
little  terror  for  her,  provided  the  garret  were 
well  situated.  And  yet  how  few  occupations 
there  are  that  enable  a  woman  to  remain  at 
home  with  her  children,  and  care  for  them,  and 
yet  give  her  money  enough  to  live  decently! 
Therefore  something  out  of  the  beaten  track  of 
sewing  or  giving  hourly  lessons  in  English  and 
French,  for  Molly  had  no  other  accomplish- 
ments, must  be  devised,  and,  fortunately,  fine 
cooking,  the  least  worked  field  for  home  occupa- 
tion, was  the  resource  she  had. 

Molly  had  dismissed  Anna  as  soon  as  she  was 
able  to  attend  to  the  baby  herself,  for  she  could 
not  afford  to  retain  her.  Nor  would  she  have 
been  as  useful  with  the  new  baby,  for  Molly  felt 
no  one  could  deal  with  it  but  herself.  In  its  fret- 
ful, restless  moods  she  would  undress  it,  lay  it  in 
flannel,  and  rub  its  little  back  and  limbs  gently 
with  her  warm  hand,  until  it  was  soothed  and 


112  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

would  sleep.  At  other  times  a  warm  bath 
would  have  the  desired  effect,  and  Molly  knew 
that  Anna,  with  excellent  intentions,  would 
certainly  aggravate  the  child's  nervousness  by 
rocking  it  or  walking  it  about.  Therefore,  in 
pursuing  her  system  of  mitigating  the  child's 
restlessness  by  keeping  it  as  still  as  possible  by 
movements  soothing  to  the  nerves,  and  exceed- 
ing care  and  regularity,  she  felt  that  no  one 
could  be  trusted  but  herself ;  and  under  her  man- 
agement the  little  Kate  was  thriving,  although 
Dr.  Price  had  warned  her  that  it  was  a  very  del- 
icate baby. 

Meg  and  John  had  had  the  natural  mother 
food,  but  poor  little  Kate  being  a  "  bottle  baby  " 
for  the  first  three  months,  her  food  required 
watching  narrowly,  for  it  was  very  apt  to  disagree. 
At  the  end  of  three  months  Molly  began  to  feed 
her  with  a  spoon,  being  very  anxious  to  wean  her 
from  the  bottle  ;  for  she  knew  children  would  as 
readily  eat  from  a  spoon,  if  trained  to  it,  at  four 
months  as  at  twelve.  But  I  am  anticipating 
matters.  Having  decided  that  to  make  eatables 
for  sale  must  be  her  resource,  it  became  a  ques- 
tion what  articles  they  should  be. 

"  I  tell  you  what,  Molly !  We  will  write  a 
list  of  the  articles  you  can  make,  avoiding,  of 
course,  such  as  most  people  can  make  for  them- 
selves or  buy,  and  then  I  will  go  and  see  my 


LISTS   OF  GOODIES.  113 

friend  Mrs.  P.  at  the  Exchange  and  get 

her  advice." 

The  two  friends  then  sat  down  and  made  out 
the  following  list : 

English  Pigeon  Pie. 
Veal  and  Ham  Pie. 
Sausage  Rolls. 
Cheese  Cakes. 
Cream  Cheese. 
Potted  Cheese. 
Twelfth  Cake. 

"  Now  a  few  French  things,  though  as  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  one  can  buy  those  much  more  easily 
than  English  specialties,"  said  Mrs.  Welles. 

"  One  can  buy  them,  but  only  in  a  stereotyped 
way.  For  instance,  if  a  large  Brioche  were 
wanted,  or  large  Baba  or  Savarin,  it  has  to  be 
specially  ordered." 

"  So  it  has,  and  you  make  either  just  as  well 
as  any  French  woman." 

The  French  list  then  was  as  follows : 

Baba  Cakes,  large  or  small. 

Brioche  Cakes,  large  or  small. 

Gateau  de  Riz. 

Vol-au-Vent  of  Poultry,  Sweetbreads,  etc. 

Bouchees. 

Consommee. 

"There  are   several   other  things  one  could 


114  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

make,"  said  Molly,  "  but  one  must  find  out  what 
is  most  likely  to  sell." 

"  That  I  will  do,"  said  Mrs.  Welles. 

Molly  did  not  deceive  herself  into  thinking 
that  a  business  could  be  built  up  very  rapidly. 
It  might  take  a  year  to  make  even  very  little 
money,  and  she  must  be  prepared  for  delays  and 
drawbacks.  Yet  there  seemed  nothing  she 
could  do  that  was  sufficiently  remunerative  that 
would  not  take  time  to  establish.  Mary  Lennox, 
after  two  years'  hard  work,  had  established  her 
greenhouse,  and  was  making  more  money  than 
she  could  have  made  in  any  other  way ;  that  is  to 
say,  she  was  making  a  very  comfortable  living, 
and  her  business  in  cut  flowers  was  now  growing 
so  rapidly  that  she  bade  fair  to  become  quite  a 
rich  woman  in  a  few  years.  But  had  she  fal- 
tered at  the  hard  work  of  the  first  year,  or  been 
in  too  great  a  hurry  for  returns,  she  would  have 
failed ;  and  alas !  had  she  been,  like  so  many 
young  women,  obliged  to  provide  a  home  for 
herself  or  others  while  she  worked  her  way,  she 
could  not  have  thus  waited  for  success. 


ttf 


CHAPTER  X. 

A   LETTER.      MOLLY   HAS   A   NEW   IDEA. 

DEAR  MOLLY  :  —  As  you  do  not  come  near 
us  in  our  trouble,  I  must  write  and  tell  you 
what  we  have  decided  upon,  although  I  confess 
it  seems  to  me  you  might  have  shown  interest 
enough  in  us  to  have  inquired.  Of  course  I 
know  you  have  your  troubles  too,  but  every- 
thing is  comparative  in  this  world,  and  to  come 
down  as  I  and  my  daughters  have,  from  wealth 
and  luxury  to  not  knowing  what  to  do  for  a  liv- 
ing, is  something  that  few  people  are  called  on 
to  endure  ;  and  if  you  have  lost  a  husband,  I 
have  lost  my  son,  and  though  you  may  love  him 
much,  there  is  no  love  on  earth  like  a  mother's  ; 
and  I  must  say  I  thought  my  son's  wife  would  have 
come  forward  to  advise  her  mother  in  her  trouble, 
especially  as  you  have  known  what  it  is  to  deal 
with  the  world  while  I  and  my  daughters  have 
not.  But  we  have  now  decided  on  a  plan  which 
will  enable  us  to  live  in  a  manner  suitable  to 
our  tastes  in  one  sense,  however  mortifying  to 
our  pride  in  another.  If  you  care  to  come  and 


116  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

talk  it  over  with  us  we  shall  be  glad  to  see  you. 
I  am  naturally  anxious,  too,  about  your  plans. 
Have  you  decided  to  let  us  take  Meg  ?  It  must 
be  a  relief  to  have  one  child  less  to  think  of,  and 
you  know  our  love  for  the  darling  is  as  great  as 
your  own. 

Your  affectionate  mother, 

ELIZABETH  BISHOP. 

Molly  smiled  rather  bitterly  as  she  read  the 
thoroughly  characteristic  letter  of  her  mother- 
in-law.  The  latter  had  come  to  her  as  soon  as 
it  was  certain  there  was  nothing  left  from  the 
wreck,  and  had  asked  advice  of  Molly  as  being 
practically  acquainted  with  the  matter  of  mak- 
ing a  living ;  and  she  had  offered  at  the  same 
time  to  share  her  daughter-in-law's  burden  by 
taking  Meg  off  her  hands  entirely.  This  Molly 
declined.  She  knew  Mrs.  Bishop  meant  well, 
and  that  although  she  was  left  without  income 
she  was  better  off  than  Molly,  for  she  owned  a 
handsome  house  and  furniture  and  valuable 
jewels. 

When  they  had  asked  Molly's  advice  as  to  what 
they  should  do  she  had  immediately  suggested 
the  obvious  resource  of  letting  the  house  fur- 
nished and  taking  a  smaller  one,  or  a  flat,  and 
the  difference  in  rent  would,  with  economy,  sup- 
port herself  and  two  daughters. 


A  NEW  IDEA.  117 

The  suggestion,  to  Molly's  surprise,  was  re- 
ceived in  dead  silence  by  the  daughters,  and 
with  scorn  by  Mrs.  Bishop.  Of  course,  that 
any  one  could  see  might  be  done,  but  what  she 
wanted  was  a  way  to  preserve  for  her  girls  the 
position  they  had  hitherto  occupied,  and  to  do 
this,  they  must  remain  amid  decent  surround- 
ings. 

Molly  ventured  to  point  out  that  a  house  that 
required  eight  servants  would  be  a  very  misera- 
ble home  reduced  to  the  two  they  proposed  re- 
taining, and  that  with  the  rent  from  it  they 
might  go  abroad  and  live  with  comfort. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  know  what  living  in  Paris  or 
London  would  be,  on  a  limited  income.  We 
should  have  to  go  to  a  cheap,  shabby-genteel 
boarding-house,  and  associate  with  frowsy  dow- 
agers, and  old  maids  who  are  too  tiresome  to  be 
tolerated  in  their  own  families,"  said  Virginia 
Bishop. 

"  Of  course,  you  could  not  live  expensively, 
but  I  don't  think  it  need  be  so  bad  as  that.  I 
have  known  very  bright  and  well-bred  people 
who  lived  inexpensively  in  London  and  Paris." 

Her  words,  however,  had  no  effect,  and  her 
relations-in-law  parted  from  her  with  a  feeling 
of  impatience,  and  the  reflection  that  young 
women  of  her  class,  which  meant  the  class  edu- 
cated to  earn  their  own  living,  never  could  un- 


118  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

derstand  the  feelings,  the  delicacy  and  sensitive- 
ness of  ladies,  meaning  those  young  ladies  who 
had  nothing  but  their  clothes  and  their  pleas- 
ures to  think  of  all  their  lives. 

Although  her  first  discussion  had  been  so  un- 
satisfactory, Molly  felt  that  duty  called  her  to 
go  and  see  her  husband's  family.  She  could  not 
imagine  what  the  plan  could  be  that  would  ena- 
ble the  family  to  live  in  the  old  home,  and  feared 
it  must  be  something  wildly  impracticable. 

Her  worst  fears  were  realized  when  she 
reached  Mrs.  Bishop's  stately  home.  Mr.  Bishop 
was  looking  younger  and  heartier  than  ever ;  the 
increasing  weakness  of  his  mind  seemed  com- 
pensated by  strength  of  body  and  of  will.  Poor 
old  fellow,  he  cherished  the  hope  that  he  would 
be  "  even  "  yet  with  the  smart  operators  who 
had  taken  him  in.  He  talked  pompously  of 
emerging  from  the  passing  cloud,  and  lamented 
the  next  instant  with  tears  in  his  eyes  that  his 
son  would  not  be  alive  to  enjoy  the  renewed 
prosperity. 

"  But  you  shall,  Molly,  my  girl,  you  shall." 
Molly  affected  to  hope  with  him,  but  she  felt 
how  fortunate  it  was  that  he  had  nothing  in  his 
power  to  waste,  or  his  wife  and  daughters  would 
yet  be  utterly  penniless,  for  he  was  as  obstinate 
in  his  mental  decline  as  he  had  been  in  his 
brightest  days.  , 


A  NEW  IDEA.  119 

But  when  Molly  sat  down  to  hear  her  mother- 
in-law's  plan  it  did  not  seem  that  he  was  much 
more  mad  than  his  wife. 

"  Molly,  we  have  talked  matters  all  over,  and 
choked  down  our  pride,  and  decided  that  the 
only  way  in  which  we  can  live  as  becomes  our 
position  is  to  —  to  receive  a  few  people  of  good 
standing  into  our  family." 

Molly  fairly  gasped  with  surprised  dismay. 

"  You  are  shocked,  I  see,  and  so  were  we  all 
when  we  realized  that  there  was  no  alternative  ; 
but  some  humiliation  we  have  to  suffer,  and  this 
is  less  than  some  others." 

"  But  do  you  think  this  house  could  ever  be 
made  remunerative  for  boarders  ?  "  asked  Molly, 
remembering  that  though  it  was  large  and  splen- 
did it  had  only  three  bedrooms  more  than  those 
used  by  the  family  ;  that  there  were  three  par- 
lors, a  library,  dining-room,  and  reception-room 
(and  she  soon  learned  that  it  did  not  enter  into 
Mrs.  Bishop's  plans  to  make  any  of  these  into 
bedrooms). 

"My  dear  Molly,  you  really  can't  judge  in 
this  case,"  answering  her  tone  rather  than- words. 
"  For  commonplace  boarders,  certainly  this  is 
not  a  suitable  house ;  but  do  you  suppose  there 
are  not  families  who  would  gladly  pay  liberally 
to  live  in  a  house  kept  on  this  footing,  yet  be  re- 
lieved of  housekeeping  ?  I  don't  expect  to  have 


120  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

a  crowd  of  hungry  people  at  my  table  every  day, 
but  one  or  two  nice  families  who  would  pay  the 
same  as  for  a  suite  of  rooms  and  board  at  the 
Brunswick.  Superb  accommodations  ought  to 
bring  superb  prices." 

Now  Molly  knew  this  was  true,  and  had  Mrs. 
Bishop  or  her  daughters  had  the  smallest  idea 
of  making  money  go  as  far  as  possible  —  of 
housekeeping  in  any  but  the  most  extravagant 
way  —  the  plan  would  not  have  been  so  wild  ; 
for,  it  was  always  to  be  remembered,  Mrs. 
Bishop  had  no  rent  to  pay.  But  as  it  was,  un- 
less one  of  the  daughters  should  develop  some 
housekeeping  talent,  it  did  not  seem  possible 
they  could  escape  bankruptcy;  and  the  more 
they  revealed  their  plans  and  impracticable 
views,  the  more  certain  it  seemed  to  Molly  that 
nothing  but  ruin  could  result. 

For  a  moment  a  mad  idea  of  offering  to  man- 
age for  them  presented  itself ;  the  next  it  was 
abandoned.  Under  no  circumstances  could  she 
and  the  Bishop  family  have  got  along  smoothly  ; 
for  they  were  impressed  with  the  fact  that  Molly 
was  very  much  beneath  them  socially,  and  she 
was  thankful  she  did  not  give  utterance  to  her 
good-natured  thought. 

She  returned  home  very  anxious  for  her  hus- 
band's family ;  but  a  bright  idea  had  dawned 
in  her  own  mind  that  would  help  the  solution 


A   NEW  IDEA.  121 

of  her  difficulties.  She  must  leave  the  dear  lit- 
tle house  where  she  had  lived  five  happy  years. 
Why  should  she  not  rent  a  larger  one  and  take 
boarders?  If  they  were  slow  in  coming,  her 
cookery  orders  would  help  out ;  if  the  latter 
came  slowly,  something  would  be  gained  by  the 
boarders. 

Molly  well  knew  her  own  power  of  making 
money  do  its  full  work,  and  knew  she  could 
cater  successfully  for  boarders.  Her  resolution 
was  taken.  She  would  begin  at  once  to  seek 
the  house  she  needed,  and  get  settled  in  it  be- 
fore she  commenced  to  canvass  for  orders. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

MOLLY   TAKES    A   HOUSE. 

WHEN  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bishop  first  went  to 
Greenfield  it  was  a  small  suburban  town,  just 
becoming  known  to  New  Yorkers  for  its  freedom 
from  mosquitoes  and  malaria,  and  its  excellent 
railroad.  Since  that  time  it  had  grown  im- 
mensely. Houses  were  not  built  fast  enough  for 
the  demand,  and  it  had  been  said  very  often  by 
Molly  herself  that  it  was  a  pity  some  enterpris- 
ing woman  did  not  open  a  good  boarding-house. 
There  were  one  or  two,  always  crowded,  and 
yet  which  people  only  put  up  with  for  lack  of 
better  accommodation ;  and  it  was  the  same 
with  the  two  country  hotels,  where  one  could 
predict  the  dinner  always,  and  know  that  the 
variety  was  between  "  roast  beef  and  roast  lamb," 
and  "  roast  lamb  and  roast  beef." 

Many  people  she  had  known  since  she  had 
lived  in  Greenfield  had  wished  to  stay  a  few 
months,  but  could  not  do  so  from  lack  of  good 
board.  She  saw  at  once  that  she  might  be  the 
woman  to  supply  the  want.  Her  thoughts  flew 


MOLLY   TAKES  A   HOUSE.  123 

to  a  house  that  had  been  long  standing  empty. 
It  had  been  built  by  an  over-sanguine  man, 
business  collapsed  soon  after  it  was  finished,  and 
as  it  was  too  large  for  most  persons  seeking 
country  homes,  it  had  stood  empty  ever  since, 
getting  weather  worn  and  shabby  as  such  houses 
always  do. 

When  first  the  Morgan  house,  as  it  was  called, 
had  been  built  it  had  stood  alone,  and  although 
quite  near  enough  to  the  depot,  had  then  been 
thought  out  of  the  way.  Then  building  began, 
and  now  it  was  in  a  well  built  up  neighborhood 
of  Queen  Anne  cottages,  a  large,  forlorn  French 
roofed  house.  The  fact  that  it  had  been  empty 
so  long  possibly  prejudiced  it,  although  Molly 
found  there  was  less  reason  for  surprise  after 
making  her  first  inquiries  of  the  caretaker,  an 
old  Irish  woman,  and  her  husband. 

Having  once  decided,  Molly  was  quick  to  act ; 
the  very  next  day  Mrs.  Welles  and  herself  went 
to  look  at  the  vacant  house. 

"  It  really  seems  made  for  a  boarding-house 
or  a  school,"  said  Charlotte,  when  they  had  seen 
the  ten  good-sized  bedrooms  beside  the  servants' 
room  and  trunk-room.  "  I  wonder  no  one  ever 
thought  of  it  before." 

"  Deed  an'  if  yez  knew  all  about  it  that  some 
as  lives  in  it  know,  ye  would  n't  be  surprised  at 
all,"  said  the  old  woman,  who  followed  them 
through  the  house. 


124  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"  Why,  what  is  the  matter  with  the  house  ?  " 
asked  Molly,  quickly,  much  startled. 

"  Faith  an'  that  's  more  than  myself  can  say, 
but  niver  a  day  have  I  been  well  in  the  house, 
an'  as  for  me  husband,  he  's  down  wid  the  chills 
every  minute." 

Mrs.  Welles  turned  round  sharply. 

"  I  wonder  you  stay.  I  understand  you  have 
been  in  this  house  for  years." 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  an'  it 's  easy  saying  it 's  a  won- 
der we  stay,  but  there  's  no  rint  to  pay,  an'  the 
coal  in  winther  an'  all,  poor  people  can't  choose 
their  houses.  But  if  I  was  the  likes  o'  any  one  that 
cud  pay,  niver  a  bit  wud  I  come  to  this  place." 

"Tell  me  what  is  wrong.  Is  the  drainage 
bad?" 

"  It 's  me  belief  it 's  all  wrong,  an'  I  would  n't 
be  doing  right  not  to  let  ye  know." 

"  Well,  for  instance,  have  you  bad  smells  ?  " 

"  Ay,  indeed,  smells  that  '11  turn  yer  sick  at 
yer  stomach." 

This  was  serious,  and  Molly  was  afraid  she 
must  give  up  all  idea  of  such  a  house  ;  yet  when 
she  had  been  in  the  kitchen  and  seen  the  condi- 
tion in  which  the  sink  was,  she  thought  it  would 
be  wonderful  if  there  were  no  smells,  and  a 
further  visit  to  the  cellar  confirmed  this  idea. 
Every  kind  of  refuse  was  there  stored,  from 
the  ashes  (wholesome  in  themselves)  of  many 


MOLLY  TAKES  A   HOUSE.  125 

fires,  to  garbage  and  old  shoes  and  filthy  rags 
and  straw.  Not  a  breath  of  air  was  admitted 
to  the  reeking  mass,  and  they  were  glad  to  hurry 
away. 

"  111 !  I  wonder  they  have  n't  given  typhoid 
to  the  neighborhood,"  said  Molly.  "  Think  of 
people  leaving  a  house  in  such  hands !  " 

"  If  it  had  been  simply  closed,  no  doubt  it 
would  have  been  let  long  ago,"  said  Mrs. 
Welles. 

"You  don't  attach  importance,  then,  to  her 
account  of  its  being  unhealthy." 

"  Not  a  bit.  Of  course  it  is  frightfully  un- 
healthy now,  and  as  you  are  to  be  responsible  for 
other  people's  health  I  should  have  everything 
examined  by  an  expert  before  you  rent  the 
place." 

This  was  done ;  the  landlord,  only  too  glad  to 
get  a  responsible  tenant,  was  anxious  to  do 
everything  required.  The  rent  was  f  800  a  year, 
and  Molly  knew  that  a  house  with  so  many  bed- 
rooms was  likely  to  be  profitable  at  that  rent. 
The  difficulty,  she  had  observed,  in  making 
country  boarding-houses  pay  was  that  few 
houses,  unless  built  for  the  purpose,  had  sufficient 
bedrooms. 

From  the  time  the  house  was  taken  until  it 
would  be  ready  for  occupation,  Molly  was  so 
busily  occupied  that  she  had  no  time  during  the 


126  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

day  to  brood  over  her  grief,  and  at  night  when 
work  was  over  —  the  night  that  had  been  a  long 
tearful  wakefulness  —  her  fatigue  was  so  great, 
her  mind  so  busy,  that  even  then  she  could  not 
long  indulge  in  the  luxury  of  woe.  Her  thoughts 
then  naturally  turned  to  her  loss,  her  heart  ached 
with  loneliness,  yet  her  mind  was  traversed  by 
thoughts  of  her  undertaking,  the  doubts  and 
fears  and  calculations,  and  she  would  drop  asleep 
and  sleep  soundly. 

In  work,  she,  like  so  many  others,  found  the 
blessed  panacea  for  trouble. 

Of  course,  she  had  to  buy  more  furniture  than 
had  sufficed  for  the  little  house,  although  she  by 
no  means  intended  to  furnish  all  the  bedrooms 
except  as  she  found  need  for  them. 

She  decided  to  furnish  two  of  the  bedrooms, 
and  bought  for  the  purpose  simple,  well-made 
ash  furniture  at  $ 29  the  set  of  four  pieces.  She 
found  now,  as  in  furnishing  her  own  house,  that 
it  was  better  to  buy  chairs  separate,  and  to 
choose  them  for  comfort  rather  than  custom. 

Molly  called  up  her  recollections  of  boarding, 
and  all  the  disagreeables  connected  with  it,  and 
determined,  so  far  as  she  could  help  it,  that  those 
who  boarded  with  her  should  have  no  such 
cause  of  annoyance.  One  she  remembered  was 
the  fact  that  some  drawers  would  not  open  with- 
out great  exertion,  and  others  would  not  close. 


MOLLY   TAKES  A   HOUSE.  127 

How  often  had  she  had  her  patience  taxed  by 
trying  to  get  a  bureau  drawer  exactly  in  the  po- 
sition in  which  it  would  shut.  This  she  guarded 
against  by  testing  them  all,  and  taking  such  suits 
as  were  guaranteed  of  well-seasoned  wood. 

In  her  quest  for  furniture,  she  sought  the 
best  value  for  her  money,  but  she  did  not  look 
for  the  impossibly  cheap,  knowing  it  would  be 
dear  in  the  end,  and  very  few  dollars  made  the 
difference  between  plain,  well-made  articles 
and  poorly  made.  The  great  difference  lay  in 
stylish  furniture.  Ill-made  stylish,  alias  showy 
furniture,  cost  nearly  double  of  that  she  bought, 
and  yet  had  the  prices  been  the  same  she  pre- 
ferred her  own. 

She  bought  squares  of  ingrain  carpet  of  good 
quality  and  artistic  patterns,  but  she  eschewed 
dull  colors,  because  she  had  no  bright -covered 
furniture  to  be  shown  up  by  the  neutral  tint, 
and  the  whole  color  and  brightness  of  the  room 
would  depend  on  the  carpet,  inartistic  as  such  a 
fact  might  be ;  so  she  chose  mingled  blue  and 
tan  and,  with  an  eye  to  the  future  making  of 
two  worn  carpets  into  one  good  one,  she  bought 
both  alike. 

The  kitchen  utensils  had,  of  course,  to  be  on 
a  larger  scale  than  in  her  own  house,  but  the 
purchase  of  a  few  large  pots  and  pans  was  all 
she  ventured  upon  until  she  should  see  how  her 
venture  succeeded. 


128  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Then  there  was  extra  linen  to  provide.  All 
this  occupied  her  spare  time.  Little  Kate's 
restlessness  made  this  very  much  less  than  it 
might  have  been,  for  though  Molly  pursued  the 
plan  of  feeding  the  baby  regularly  and  laying  her 
down  to  sleep,  and  found  no  difficulty  because 
the  child  had  known  no  other  way,  yet  the  naps 
were  very  short,  and  excellent  as  Marta  was, 
trying  to  do  her  own  work  and  as  much  of  what 
Annie  had  done  as  possible,  she  could  not  help 
much  with  the  little  Kate.  The  mother-touch 
seemed  the  only  one  that  soothed  her.  This 
undoubtedly  came  from  the  fact  that  Molly, 
feeling  that  this  baby  was  Harry's  last  legacy  to 
her,  had  persisted  in  doing  everything  for  it 
herself.  She  could  not  bear  it  away  from  her. 
Dear  as  Meg  and  John  were  to  her,  this  little 
one  seemed  to  need  her  care  so  very  much  more 
than  they  had  ever  done ;  and  so  the  little  one 
had  developed  the  tyranny  of  helpless  babyhood, 
and  Molly  found  herself  at  last  the  willing 
slave  of  little  Kate.  But  somehow  it  seemed 
as  if  all  the  care  and  love  she  lavished  on  it  was 
given  to  its  father,  and  so  Molly  had  one  spoiled 
baby. 

Thus  her  time  was  very  fully  occupied,  in 
those  last  days  in  the  little  home  she  had  loved 
so  dearly,  and  then  came  the  sad  packing-up, 
the  final  wrench  with  the  happy  past,  and  Molly 


MOLLY  TAKES  A  HOUSE.  129 

took  possession  of  the  great  house,  so  unlike 
anything  she  would  have  chosen  except  from  a 
business  point  of  view. 

John  and  Meg  were  wild  with  delight  as 
they  scampered  through  the  echoing  corridors 
and  rooms,  laughing  to  hear  their  own  voices 
sound  so  strangely. 

The  tears  welled  into  Molly's  eyes  when  she 
saw  the  glee  of  the  children  in  their  new  sur- 
roundings, and  yet  she  would  not  have  had  it 
otherwise  if  she  could. 

She  had  many  helping  hands  in  everything 
she  needed  to  do,  and  very  soon  order  came  out 
of  chaos,  and  the  house  began  to  seem  more  like 
a  possible  home. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  —  BEGINNING 
BUSINESS. 

MRS.  WELLES  had  not  been  idle  while  Molly 
was  preparing  for  the  change  in  her  life.  She 
had  visited  the  Exchange,  seen  the  manager  of 
the  household  department,  and  learned  from  her 
that  they  would  welcome  any  novelties,  and  es- 
pecially such  as  would  be  suitable  for  Sunday 
afternoon  tea. 

"  And  that,  my  dear,  is  where  I  think  your 
pigeon  pies  and  '  weal  and  hammer  '  will  come 
in,  beside  other  things  that  you  will  be  able  to 
make,  once  your  articles  are  known  to  be  relia- 
ble. At  any  rate,  whenever  you  are  ready  to 
send  anything  they  will  welcome  it." 

Molly  had  advertised  as  soon  as  she  was  set- 
tled, and  she  also  made  known  as  widely  as  pos- 
sible her  intention  of  taking  boarders.  Now, 
after  careful  consideration  as  to  what  would  be 
the  best  article  to  send  with  a  pigeon  pie,  she 
decided,  as  she  would  have  pastry,  to  make  Ban- 
bury  cakes,  as  they  are  often  heard  of  and  read 
of,  but  little  known. 


MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  131 

She  knew  that  it  was  more  than  likely  her  first 
pie  might  be  a  dead  loss,  for  it  might  not  sell, 
although  Charlotte  Welles  pooh-poohed  the  idea. 

"  No  fear,  my  dear,  of  anything  so  attractive 
looking  as  one  of  your  pigeon  pies  remaining 
unsold." 

"  There  's  one  thing :  if  I  only  have  boarders, 
I  shall  make  things  that  will  keep  a  few  days, 
and  have  a  regular  day  for  getting  back  unsold 
articles  and  delivering  fresh  ones ;  and  then,  as 
those  unsold  will  not  be  stale,  we  can  eat  them 
at  home." 

Molly  found,  when  it  became  known  in  Green- 
field that  she  would  make  articles  to  order,  that 
the  news  was  received  with  delight ;  for  many 
people  sent  to  New  York  for  things  that  they 
could  not  obtain  at  the  local  bakery,  and  to  be 
able  to  order  them  right  at  hand,  — "  what  a 
comfort  that  would  be  !  " 

Molly  was  glad  to  find  there  was  this  prospect, 
and  her  own  common  sense  told  her  if  she  could 
produce  articles  not  only  as  good  to  eat,  but  as 
delightful  to  look  at,  as  anything  supplied  by  the 
French  or  Italian  caterers,  she  would  get  custom ; 
but  she  knew  the  world  too  well  to  be  over  san- 
guine. She  thought  that  what  seemed  so  con- 
venient now  might  cease  to  seem  so  when  the 
time  came,  and  that  many  would  decide  if  they 
had  to  send  to  New  York  for  wines  or  ices,  they 


132  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

might  as  well  send  for  all.  Time  alone  could 
show. 

The  first  Thursday  that  she  was  settled,  she 
made  the  pigeon  pie  and  Banbury  cakes.  She 
found  a  farmer  who  kept  pigeons,  and  from  him 
bought  a  pair  for  forty  cents,  deciding  in  her 
own  mind,  that  if  she  had  to  buy  them  often, 
she  would  send  to  Fulton  market  and  get  them 
by  the  dozen ;  but  for  this  experiment  the  most 
expensive  way  would  be  to  buy  too  much  of  any- 
thing. 

Molly  first  put  a  small  chopping-bowl  and  the 
chopping-knife  in  the  ice-box  to  get  cold  while 
she  prepared  the  birds.  The  rolling-pin  was  also 
placed  there,  and  the  pastry-board  laid  over  the 
top  to  get  as  cold  as  it  would ;  for  it  was  a  mild 
fall  morning,  and  she  needed  every  aid  that  ice 
would  give  in  order  to  have  the  pastry  in  perfec- 
tion. 

Next  she  put  two  eggs  to  boil  hard,  and  then 
proceeded  to  prepare  the  meat  and  birds,  so  as 
to  have  nothing  of  the  kind  to  touch  when  the 
pastry  was  on  hand. 

She  had  been  very  particular,  in  choosing  the 
steak,  to  take  one  that  was  bright  red  in  color 
and  of  fine  grain,  from  which  the  red  blood 
seemed  ready  to  ooze  on  pressure,  for  this  is  the 
sign  of  a,  juicy  steak  when  cut  from  the  round. 

The  dish  she  intended  for  the  pie  was  a  deep 


MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  133 

oval  holding  a  quart,  —  what  English  people  call 
a  pie-dish,  but  used  here  as  an  uncovered  vegeta- 
ble-dish ;  it  had  a  lip  all  round  half  an  inch  wide, 
and  this  lip  was  essential  to  the  appearance  of 
the  pie. 

The  steak  was  more  than  she  needed  to  put  in 
a  pie,  as  the  dish  would  not  comfortably  hold 
more  than  the  two  birds  and  three  quarters  of  a 
pound  of  steak,  but  she  needed  a  little  meat  for 
extra  gravy.  She  trimmed  away  every  bit  of 
skin  and  gristle  ;  there  was  scarcely  any  fat,  for 
the  steak  was  from  the  centre  of  the  round  be- 
fore the  broad  band  of  fat  was  reached,  which 
comes  after  the  finest  steaks  are  cut.  She  then 
cut  off  about  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  meat  and 
chopped  it  with  the  trimmings,  put  it  on  in  a 
small  saucepan  with  a  pint  of  water  and  half  a 
teaspoonf  ul  of  salt ;  this  was  to  simmer  gently  all 
day,  and  at  night  would  yield  a  gill  of  strong 
gravy. 

This  done,  she  laid  the  steak  on  a  meat-board 
and  hacked  it  all  over  very  finely  with  a  heavy 
knife,  then  went  over  it  the  reverse  way  so  that 
it  was  ultimately  crossed  in  all  directions  with 
the  knife.  This  she  now  laid  in  the  dish  and 
sprinkled  over  it  a  small  teaspoonful  of  salt  and 
half  a  level  saltspoonful  of  pepper.  Then  she 
prepared  the  birds  by  cutting  off  the  head  and 
neck  and  splitting  them  down  the  back.  She 


134  MOLLY  SISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

removed  the  inside,  reserving  hearts  and  livers. 
The  feet  were  carefully  laid  aside ;  the  heads, 
hearts,  and  livers  were  washed  and  added  to  the 
gravy  she  was  making. 

The  birds  were  nicely  washed,  split  lengthwise 
down  the  breast,  and  then  sprinkled  with  pepper 
and  salt  and  laid  in  the  dish,  bone  side  down- 
ward. The  four  half  birds  were  disposed  as 
smoothly  as  possible,  so  that  when  the  crust 
should  go  on,  there  should  be  as  little  protuber- 
ance as  possible.  She  pressed  her  two  hands 
along  each  side  of  the  dish  to  round  the  contents 
up  toward  the  centre  into  a  dome.  Then  she 
took  the  shells  from  the  hard  eggs  which  she  had 
put  in  cold  water,  after  they  had  boiled  fast  for 
twelve  minutes. 

Each  egg  was  cut  in  four  quarters,  and  the 
pieces  inserted  wherever  there  was  a  hollow  spot. 
The  dish  was  then  half  filled  with  water  and  put 
aside  while  the  pastry  was  made. 

Into  the  cold  chopping-bowl  twelve  ounces  of 
flour  was  carefully  weighed,  and  then  a  table- 
spoonful  of  it  put  into  the  dredger  to  use  in 
flouring  the  board.  Nine  ounces  of  firm  butter 
was  also  weighed  and  put  to  the  flour,  then 
chopped  as  quickly  as  possible  at  an  open  win- 
dow. When  the  butter  was  about  as  small  as 
hazel-nuts,  a  hole  was  made  in  the  centre  of  the 
flour  and  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  a  small  saltspoon- 


MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  135 

ful  of  salt  and  a  scant  teaspoonful  of  lemon  juice 
put  into  it,  and  a  gill  of  ice  water.  With  her 
two  fingers  (in  order  that  as  little  warmth  from 
her  hand  as  possible  might  be  communicated  to 
the  paste)  she  stirred  the  water,  egg,  etc.,  and 
then  gradually  took  in  the  flour,  until  she  found 
the  water  all  absorbed,  adding  more,  a  few  drops 
at  a  time,  until  it  formed  a  stiff  paste.  She  was 
careful  not  to  knead  or  work  the  paste,  using 
only  enough  pressure  to  make  it  cohere.  Had  a 
novice  seen  the  rough,  ragged  piece  of  dough, 
with  bits  of  butter  lying  loose,  that  she  turned 
out  of  the  bowl  on  to  the  board,  the  novice 
would  undoubtedly  have  felt  that  she  must  be 
making  a  mistake,  that  the  dough  must  be  made 
smooth  ;  but  Molly  had  made  it  often,  and  had 
had  too  many  compliments  paid  to  her  pastry  not 
to  feel  very  sure  of  herself,  so  long  as  she  could 
work  quickly  enough  to  prevent  those  bits  of 
butter  getting  soft.  Once  the  butter  melts  in 
pastry  before  it  gets  in  the  oven  there  is  an  end 
to  fine  pastry  for  that  occasion. 

Molly  just  worked  the  dough  enough  to  make 
it  a  compact  but  not  smooth  mass.  Then  she 
floured  the  rolling-pin  (left  in  the  ice-box  till 
the  last  minute),  and  rolled  out  the  paste  once 
to  half  an  inch  thick,  gathered  up  the  crumbs  of 
butter,  etc.,  and  put  them  on  the  dough,  dredged 
it  very  lightly  with  flour,  and  folded  it  over  one 


136  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

third,  then  lapped  the  other  third  over  that,  thus 
making  a  book-shaped  piece  of  paste.  This  she 
turned  half  round,  thus  bringing  the  rough  edges 
toward  her.  She  rolled  it  out  again,  always  tak- 
ing care  not  to  let  the  rolling-pin  go  beyond  the 
paste. 

It  had  now  formed  a  smooth  sheet,  but  Molly 
saw  it  was  fast  softening,  and  decided  as  this 
pastry  must  do  her  credit,  to  put  it  on  the  ice 
for  half  an  hour.  She  could  find  plenty  of 
things  to  do  while  it  chilled  again.  She  there- 
fore dredged  just  a  dust  of  flour  over  it,  and 
folded  it  in  three  as  she  had  done  before,  taking 
great  care  that  it  was  even,  laid  it  on  a  tin 
plate,  and  put  it  quite  on  the  ice. 

Apropos  of  the  right  and  wrong  way  of  rolling 
paste,  Molly's  experience  in  teaching  several 
persons  how  to  use  her  recipe  so  that  a  paste, 
second  only  to  the  finest  puff  paste,  and  far  bet- 
ter than  puff  paste  as  made  in  most  private 
houses  should  be  the  result,  was,  that  the  ladies 
did  not  at  all  understand  cause  and  effect.  In 
their  hands  it  usually  made  a  rich  short  paste. 
One  lady  did  not  hesitate  to  say  that  she 
thought  Molly  had  some  secret  of  her  own,  some 
little  wrinkle  that  she  concealed,  which  caused 
her  pastry  made  in  so  simple  a  way  to  rise  as 
high  as  the  lightest  puff  paste.  This  lady,  Molly 
told  to  bring  her  own  materials,  and  then  set  her 


MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  137 

to  work  under  her  direction.  She  found  that 
she  would  have  patted  and  smoothed  the  paste 
into  shape,  with  her  warm  hand,  before  rolling, 
and  that  when  she  did  roll,  the  rolling-pin  went 
over  the  edge  of  the  paste  at  each  end.  This 
tapered  it  off  to  the  thickness  of  paper,  beside 
squeezing  all  the  air  out,  which  it  is  the  great 
desideratum  to  keep  in.  Nor  could  Molly  make 
her  see  that  it  could  matter,  even  when  she 
rolled  for  her,  and  showed  how  the  rolling-pin 
should  stop  exactly  at  the  end  of  the  paste,  leav- 
ing it  just  the  same  thickness  at  the  edge  as  any- 
where else. 

Another  lady  who  said  her  paste  was  dry  and 
not  a  bit  like  Molly's,  she  found  understood  her 
directions  to  dredge  a  little  flour,  to  mean  scat- 
tering a  thick  layer,  nearly  a  tablespoonful,  over 
it,  instead  of,  perhaps,  half  a  teaspoonf ul  or  less 
from  the  dredger ;  and  when  the  pastry  stuck 
to  the  board,  instead  of  taking  it  as  a  sign  that 
the  butter  was  melting,  and  it  needed  to  go  on 
the  ice,  the  paste  was  scraped  up,  and  flour 
thickly  strewn  over  to  prevent  it  sticking.  To 
this  lady,  Molly  explained  that  every  abrasion 
of  the  paste  must  be  avoided,  just  as  if  it  were  a 
skin ;  that  should  it  stick,  it  must  be  gently 
lifted  by  laying  it  over  the  rolling-pin,  as  lifting 
it  with  the  hands,  unless  you  are  very  used  to 
handling  paste,  will  pull  it  out  of  shape  or  stretch 


138  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

it,  both  ruinous  to  it.  But  Molly  felt  that  these 
tiny  points,  which  were  the  only  secrets  she  held, 
were  not  considered  sufficient  to  account  for  her 
conjuring  puff  paste  out  of  what  they  considered 
a  recipe  for  ordinary  "  chopped  paste  "  which 
they  had  long  used. 

Molly  found  so  many  things  to  do  (for  in 
order  to  work  freely  Marta  had  been  sent  out 
with  the  children,  and  her  work  Molly  could  go 
on  with  while  waiting  for  the  pastry  to  chill), 
that  it  was  some  time  longer  than  she  intended 
before  she  got  back  to  it ;  but  this  was  all  the 
better  for  her  pastry,  as  she  well  knew. 

When  she  began  to  roll  it  again,  it  was  quite 
firm,  and  neither  stuck  to  board  or  to  rolling- 
pin.  She  worked  as  rapidly  as  possible,  rolled 
the  paste  out  to  half  an  inch  in  thickness,  folded 
it  in  three  again,  then  repeated  the  process,  then 
rolled  it  out  ready  to  use.  It  was  about  half  an 
inch  thick.  She  wet  the  lips  of  the  pie  dish,  cut 
two  strips  of  paste  an  inch  wide  and  laid  round 
it,  pressing  the  inner  edge,  or  the  one  next  to  the 
meat,  closely  to  the  dish  with  her  thumb,  thin- 
ning it  until  it  went  a  little  down  the  inside  of 
the  dish.  The  outer  edge  she  was  careful  to 
leave  untouched  even  by  the  lightest  pressure. 
She  next  wet  the  surface  of  the  paste  slightly 
with  a  brush  she  kept  for  pastry  purposes,  and 
then  cutting  off  the  paste  for  the  cover  she  laid  it 


MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  139 

over  the  meat.  It  was  amply  large  to  allow  for 
shrinkage  in  the  oven.  With  both  hands  she 
encircled  what  may  be  called  the  dome  of  the 
pie,  pressing  the  paste  with  the  lower  part  of  the 
palm,  and  both  making  it  adhere  to  the  under 
paste  and  also  keeping  the  groove.  The  same  was 
done  at  the  end  of  the  dish,  but  the  pressure  was 
only  for  a  second ;  not  a  moment  was  lost,  so  that 
the  paste  might  not  get  soft.  Then  Molly  took 
the  dish  up  in  her  hand  and  trimmed  away  the 
overhanging  paste  with  a  sharp  knife  slanting 
outwards,  that  is  to  say,  in  a  direction  that  left 
the  edge  of  the  paste  quite  flush  with  the  dish. 
She  quickly  laid  the  rest  of  the  paste,  trimmings, 
etc.,  on  the  tin  dish,  keeping  back  a  small  piece, 
then  hurried  with  it  to  the  ice,  and  returned  to 
finish  the  pie.  She  rolled  the  piece  of  pastry 
quite  thin,  cut  four  small  leaves  with  a  pastry- 
cutter  from  it,  cut  a  hole  in  the  centre  of  the  pie, 
laid  the  four  leaves  round  it  stems  toward  the 
centre,  rolled  the  paste  still  thinner,  as  thin  as 
paper,  floured  it  very  lightly,  then  doubled  it  up 
as  she  would  have  folded  a  handkerchief  till  it 
formed  a  little  inch  and  a  half  square.  She 
took  the  four  corners  and  gathered  them  together 
like  a  bundle,  making  a  sort  of  a  stem  of  them, 
then  with  her  sharp  knife  she  cut  a  deep  cross 
on  the  top.  The  paste  could  now  be  folded  back 
in  some  semblance  of  a  rose,  the  petals  formed 


140  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

of  the  fold  on  fold  of  paste.  This  was  inserted 
in  the  hole  in  the  centre  of  the  pie,  and  then  the 
yolk  of  an  egg  was  beaten  with  a  tablespoonf  ul 
of  water,  and  the  whole  pie  brushed  over  or 
glazed  with  it.  The  edges  were  of  course  un- 
touched, as  the  egg  would  have  stuck  the  leaves 
of  paste  together  and  prevented  the  rising.  Two 
small  slits  were  then  made  in  the  groove  that 
surrounded  the  pie,  and  it  was  put  in  the  oven, 
which  was  what  would  be  called  a  good  bread 
oven,  hot  enough  to  raise  the  crust,  yet  not  hot 
enough  to  burn  it  in  less  than  an  hour.  This 
she  tested  by  holding  her  hand  in  it  till  she 
could  count  twenty-five,  when  she  had  to  with- 
draw it. 

When  the  pie  was  in  the  oven  she  took  the 
little  pigeon  feet,  put  them  in  a  cup,  poured  boil- 
ing water  over  them,  and  then  quickly  stripped 
the  outer  skin  from  them,  bent  back  each  nail 
until  it  came  off,  and  the  feet  remained  a  vivid 
scarlet.  This  has  to  be  quickly  done,  or  the 
water  will  cook  the  outer  skin,  and  with  it  will 
come  the  inner,  spoiling  the  feet  for  the  purpose. 

When  the  pie  had  been  in  for  half  an  hour, 
Molly  turned  it,  and  at  the  same  time  she  in- 
serted two  of  the  feet  in  the  slit  she  had  made 
at  each  end  of  the  pie,  so  that  the  little  red 
claws  stood  out  of  it  and  served  to  indicate  the 
nature  of  the  contents. 


MOLLY  IN  HER  NEW  HOUSE.  141 

Usually  the  feet  are  put  in  when  the  pie  goes 
into  the  oven,  but  Molly  found  they  often  came 
out  as  brown  as  the  crust,  while  they  should  be 
red ;  and  when  the  pie  was  cooked,  at  the  end  of 
an  hour,  they  were  still  red  enough  to  be  very 
certainly  pigeon  feet.  Later,  she  removed  the 
pastry  rose  in  the  centre,  poured  the  gravy  she 
had  made  through  a  funnel,  replaced  the  "  rose," 
and  the  pie  was  ready.  It  was  baked  a  beauti- 
ful golden  brown,  and  looked  far  too  tempting 
not  to  find  a  buyer. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MOLLY  AT  WORK.  —  BANBURY  CAKES. — 
BOARDERS. 

IT  will  be  remembered  that  Molly  put  the 
remains  of  her  pastry  on  the  ice  while  she  fin- 
ished the  pie.  She  had  other  work  to  do,  and, 
wishing  to  give  the  pastry  as  long  a  time  on  the 
ice  as  possible,  she  arranged  the  fire  so  that  the 
oven  might  last  well,  and  was  just  quitting  the 
kitchen,  when  there  came  a  ring  at  the  front 
door.  Molly's  friends  always  opened  the  door 
for  themselves,  and  formal  callers  would  hardly 
come  before  eleven  in  the  day  ;  so  it  must  be  a 
stranger.  Fortunately  Molly  was  always  neat ; 
it  was  one  of  the  blessings  that  she  had  learned 
in  cooking-school  days  that  cooking  did  not  ne- 
cessitate soiling  one's  clothes.  To  be  sure,  she 
had  never  reached  the  dainty  precision  of  that 
lady  pioneer  of  cooking-schools  in  this  country, 
who  cooked  an  elaborate  dinner  in  a  handsome 
gown  without  an  apron,  doing  all  the  drudgery, 
the  cleansing  of  birds,  the  paring  of  vegetables, 
and  making  pastry,  without  soiling  her  cuffs  or 


MOLLY  AT   WORK.  143 

her  hands  below  the  second  joint.  This  was  an 
artistic  feat,  however,  to  which  few,  without 
special  gifts  of  deftness  and  very  great  prac- 
tice, could  attain ;  but  a  debt  of  gratitude  is  due 
to  her  who  so  completely  divested  cookery  of  its 
aspect  of  drudgery,  and  proved  that  a  woman 
might,  if  she  be  only  artist  enough,  prepare  an 
elaborate  dinner,  and  have  only  to  wash  her 
hands  to  be  ready  for  the  drawing-room.  To 
this  perfection  Molly  had  not  attained,  though 
she  could,  and  did,  wear  a  nice  dress ;  but  she 
did  not  dispense  with  the  apron,  and  the  signs 
upon  it,  after  a  day's  wear,  showed  her  that  it  was 
necessary.  She  took  off  her  apron,  therefore, 
and  opened  the  door.  A  hack  stood  in  front, 
and  a  lady,  unknown  to  her,  was  at  the  door. 

"  Mrs.  Bishop,  I  suppose  !  I  heard  that  you 
were  going  to  take  boarders,  and  came  to  see 
you  about  rooms  for  myself,  husband,  and  little 
boy." 

Molly  was  new  to  her  business,  and  only  ut- 
tered what  she  felt  to  be  very  inadequate  : 

"  Yes  ;  I  have  rooms,  which  I  will  show  you." 

The  two  rooms  that  Molly  had  prepared  were 
shown  and  approved,  the  terms  were  asked,  and 
the  current  Greenfield  price  for  each  person,  ten 
dollars  per  week,  was  named. 

"  But  my  little  boy,  of  course,  will  be  half 
price  ?  " 


144  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY". 

Now  this  was  a  point  which  Molly  had  thought 
over  as  a  contingency.  She  knew  it  was  quite 
customary  to  pay  half  price  for  children;  yet 
she  could  not  give  one  of  the  best  rooms  in  the 
house  to  a  child  for  five  dollars  a  week.  Even 
one  adult  would  have  had  a  smaller  room,  but 
the  two  she  had  shown  were  communicating 
rooms. 

"  Yes.  The  price  is  five  dollars  for  the  child  ; 
but,  of  course,  he  must  then  have  a  smaller 
room.  I  could  not  give  a  room  I  may  need  for 
a  married  couple  for  that  price." 

"  Ah !  that  would  never  do,  unless  the  room 
opened  from  mine.  He  is  too  old  to  need  a 
nurse,  but  not  old  enough  to  sleep  away  from  us 
in  a  strange  house." 

"I  can  show  you  two  other  communicating 
rooms  —  one  large  and  a  small  one  off  it.  The 
furniture  is  not  in  them,  but  can  easily  be  trans- 
ferred ;  that  is,  the  furniture  of  one  room.  The 
little  room,  of  course,  could  not  have  so  large  a 
set.  I  would  put  in  it  a  cot  bedstead,  wash- 
stand,  and  a  small  bureau." 

The  lady,  who  gave  her  name  as  Tomes,  was 
taken  to  see  the  two  rooms,  and  did  not  like 
them  nearly  so  well.  They  were  equally  pleas- 
ant, —  the  same  aspect,  —  but  Molly  could  see 
that,  having  seen  and  liked  the  other  two,  Mrs. 
Tomes  could  not  take  to  the  idea  of  the  second 


MOLLY  AT  WORK.  145 

room  being  so  small.  Molly  was  sure  she  ought 
not  to  let  one  of  her  best  rooms  go  for  a  child's 
use  at  five  dollars  a  week. 

"  And  you  will  not  let  me  have  the  two  rooms 
you  showed  me  for  twenty-five  dollars  ?  " 

Molly  rapidly  thought :  "  It  is  a  hundred 
dollars  a  month  !  "  It  was  certainly  very  nice 
to  be  sure  of  that  sum;  yet  why  should  Mrs. 
'  Tomes  refuse  to  take  the  other  two  rooms  ?  The 
small  one  —  ten  feet  by  ten  —  was  as  large  as 
she  would  find  anywhere  for  five  dollars  !  How- 
ever, they  were  three,  and  it  would  be  for  the 
winter  ;  and  she  thought  it  might  be  wise  to 
compromise. 

"  Are  you  willing  to  pay  twenty-eight  dollars 
for  those  rooms  ?  "  asked  Molly. 

"  I  think  we  must  limit  ourselves  to  twenty- 
five  dollars,"  was  the  reply. 

Mrs.  Tomes  then  arose,  and  there  was  noth- 
ing to  do  but  to  accept  her  terms  or  say  "  Good- 
day,"  and  Molly  did  the  latter,  but  not  without 
a  feeling  of  trepidation,  for  she  feared  she  might 
regret  it ;  and  then,  again,  there  was  some  little 
resentment  that  Mrs.  Tomes  should  require  a 
first-class  room  for  her  child  for  five  dollars  a 
week,  and  refuse  to  take  any  other. 

Molly  returned  to  her  work,  and  later  to  the 
kitchen  to  make  Banbury  cakes. 

Molly  knew  the  mixture  for  the  inside  of  Ban- 


146  MOLLY  BISHOP'S   FAMILY. 

bury  cakes  would  keep  ;  so  although  she  needed 
very  little  for  use  now,  she  made  a  small  jar, 
thus  :  Half  a  pound  of  currants,  four  ounces  of 
candied  citron,  four  ounces  of  candied  lemon- 
peel  (cut  very  small),  the  grated  rind  of  one 
orange,  half  a  pound  of  honey,  one  teaspoonf  ul 
of  cinnamon,  one-half  teaspoonful  of  cloves,  and 
one-half  teaspoonful  of  allspice  (all  ground). 
The  whole  she  mixed  with  a  large  wineglassf  ul 
of  brandy.  The  mixture  was  now  like  stiff 
mincemeat.  (If  it  is  thinner  than  this,  use  less 
honey.) 

Molly  rolled  out  the  paste,  laying  the  trim- 
mings, which  were  now  cold  and  firm,  in  a  heap 
—  all  large  pieces  one  upon  the  other,  so  far  as 
possible,  but  not  rolled  up  into  a  ball,  as  is  fre- 
quently done  with  trimmings.  When  it  was  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  thick,  she  cut  it  with  a  sharp 
knife  into  circles  four  inches  across,  using  a 
bowl  of  that  size,  turned  on  the  paste,  as  a 
guide.  Along  the  centre  of  each  circle  she 
laid  two  teaspoonfuls  of  the  mixture,  then  folded 
over  one  side  nearly  one  third,  wet  the  upper 
surface  with  the  white  of  an  egg,  folded  over 
the  other  side,  and  lapped  the  ends  again  to 
make  a  sort  of  pointed  oval ;  then,  having  satis- 
fied herself  that  the  juice  could  not  escape, 
she  turned  it  over  on  to  a  flat  baking  tin,  gently 
flattened  it  with  her  hand,  cut  several  tiny  slits 


MOLLY  AT   WORK.  147 

along  the  middle  with  scissors,  brushed  it  with 
the  white  of  an  egg,  and  then  sifted  powdered 
sugar  over  it.  She  made  six  and  then  baked 
them  twenty  minutes  in  a  moderate  oven. 

Molly's  recollection  of  true  Banbury  cakes  as 
they  were  sold  in  London  and  brought  to  the 
car-windows  at  Banbury  Station,  on  an  ever-to- 
be-rejoiced-in  journey  to  Devonshire,  was  that 
they  were  a  very  pale  yellow,  covered  with  a 
sugary  icing.  She  was  very  anxious  that  these 
should  look  exactly  like  the  veritable  Banbury 
cakes  of  the  London  pastry  cooks.  But  she 
feared  her  oven,  even  if  cool  enough  to  bake 
them  as  light  in  color,  might  be  too  cool  to 
make  the  pastry  rise  ;  so,  after  they  were  put  at 
the  bottom  of  the  oven,  she  placed  on  the  upper 
grating  a  large,  empty  dipping-pan.  This  would 
prevent  them  getting  brown,  while  they  would 
cook  as  well. 

Success  rewarded  her  management ;  for  the 
cakes  certainly  looked  exactly  the  delicate  pale 
tint  (yet  not  at  all  underdone)  she  wanted  to 
see  them. 

She  had  scarcely  finished  and  taken  from  the 
oven  a  pastry  cake  for  John  and  Meg,  when 
Mrs.  Welles's  basket-carriage  drove  to  the  door, 
with  the  two  children  and  her  own  Lois  in  it. 
She  had  picked  them  up  and  taken  them  for  a 
Ions:  drive. 


148  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Molly  was  glad  to  see  her,  for  she  was  still  a 
good  deal  excited  about  Mrs.  Tomes's  visit,  and 
very  fearful  that  she  had  made  a  mistake  in  re- 
fusing the  offer  made  for  her  rooms,  but  she 
was  reassured  by  Mrs.  Welles's  scornful  rejec- 
tion of  the  idea. 

"  Give  a  second  room  —  and  such  a  room !  — 
for  five  dollars  a  week  !  Do  you  think  any  one 
in  Greenfield  will  do  it  ?  No,  my  dear.  I  am 
glad  you  had  the  courage  to  refuse.  I  think  if 
Mrs.  Tomes  had  seen  the  small  and  large  rooms 
first  she  would  not  have  expected  it." 

"  But  some  people  do  take  boarders  for  eight 
dollars  in  winter,"  said  Molly. 

"  Yes  ;  but  they  give  a  winter  table,  and  that 
is  not  what  you  will  do,  my  dear.  Suppose  you 
or  I  needed  board,  do  you  think  we  could  get  a 
large  room  for  ten  dollars  a  week  ?  It  is  only 
two  persons  who  do  that,  and  to  give  such  a  room 
for  half  ten  dollars  would  not  help  to  pay  your 
bills,  Molly.  Wait  awhile.  I  don't  think  you 
will  be  long  finding  your  first  boarder,  and  that 
will  lead  to  others." 

As  if  to  prove  her  a  true  pi-ophet,  the  same 
day  brought  a  letter  from  a  young  married 
couple,  asking  terms.  Molly  knew  something  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foy,  and  was  glad  to  think  that 
she  might  have  them  in  her  house. 


MOLLY  AT  WORK.  149 

She  answered  at  once  and  told  them  all  par- 
ticulars. She  was  pretty  certain  that  they 
would  come,  for  young  Mrs.  Foy  had  often 
before  her  marriage  been  a  guest  at  Molly's,  and 
knew  the  kind  of  board  she  would  have. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

MOLLY   GOES   TO    THE    WOMAN'S    EXCHANGE. 

MOLLY  thought  it  would  be  better  for  her  to 
take  her  wares  to  the  Exchange  herself,  at  least 
for  the  first  time.  It  would  be  too  expensive, 
as  a  general  thing,  to  trust  to  others,  unless  her 
dealings  with  it  grew  quite  large ;  for  the  hint 
had  been  given  by  the  manager  that  if  articles 
arriving  on  Saturday  morning  were  unpacked 
by  the  consignor,  or  a  deputy,  it  was  a  great 
convenience  to  them  and  an  advantage  to  the 
goods  themselves,  as,  with  the  best  intentions  in 
the  world,  in  the  press  of  business  it  was  often 
found  impossible  to  open  packages  until  the  de- 
mand for  the  day  was  over,  or  they  were  hastily 
opened,  and  their  contents  laid  anywhere  handy, 
but  not  displayed  to  the  best  advantage.  Arti- 
cles sent  to  arrive  on  Friday,  however,  did  not 
labor  under  that  disadvantage. 

Molly  was  determined  that  her  work  should 
lack  nothing  that  a  little  sacrifice  of  time  or 
money  at  the  outset  could  do  for  her ;  she  would 
look  on  it  as  an  investment.  A  man  who  starts 


MOLLY  GOES  TO  THE   WOMAN'S  EXCHANGE.     151 

in  business  has  to  expect  a  few  months  of  out- 
lay before  reaping  the  benefit  of  it.  If  he  has 
no  capital,  he  has  a  terrible  struggle  in  order  to 
exist  and  meet  the  necessary  expenses. 

Something  like  this  Molly  was  saying  that 
evening  to  Mrs.  Lennox,  who  had  asked  her  if 
she  thought  it  would  pay  her  to  spend  a  dollar 
to  take  in  articles  that  would  only  sell  for  three. 

"  No,  not  at  once,  of  course.  I  suppose  my 
profits  will  be  nil  this  time  ;  but  then,  I  am  hop- 
ing to  make  by  it  in  future.  By  the  way,  I 
must  count  up  my  expenses,  to  see  just  how  I 
shall  come  out  by  charging  two  dollars  for  the 
pie  and  seventy-five  cents  a  dozen  for  the  Ban- 
bury  cakes." 

She  jotted  down  :  — 

Pigeon  pie $  .85 

Currants     05 

Citron 07 

Lemon-peel  (candied) 07 

Spices 05 

Orange 02 

Honey 09 

Brandy 10 


$1.30 

"  From  the  pie  I  have  pastry  enough  to  make 
a  second,  or  tarts,  or,  as  I  did  to-day,  the  Ban- 
bury  cakes  ;  so  that  reduces  the  cost  of  the  pie, 


152  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

and  I  suppose  I  ought  to  keep  a  strict  account 
of  that  fact,  so  as  to  see  exactly  what  profit  I 
make  on  each  article,  and  so  learn  what  is  the 
most  profitable  to  do.  I  may  conclude  that 
two  pigeon  pies  would  cost  only  one  dollar  and 
sixty-one  cents.  The  filling  for  the  Banbury 
cakes  costs  forty-five  cents,  but  it  is  enough  for 
two  and  a  half  to  three  dozen  ;  so  I  may  reckon 
the  filling  costs  for  each  cake  two  cents.  Now, 
if  I  obtain,  as  I  hope  to  do,  two  dollars  for  the 
pie  and  thirty-seven  cents  for  the  cakes,  less  the 
commission  of  ten  per  cent.,  I  double  my  money 
and  have  twenty-six  per  cent,  over." 

"  How  is  that  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Lennox.  "  Your 
Banbury  cakes  must  cost  more  than  twelve 
cents." 

"A  fraction,  because  I  sifted  a  half  cent's 
worth  of  sugar  over  them,"  laughed  Molly. 
"  You  are  counting  that  I  used  all  the  forty-five 
cents'  worth  of  filling ;  but  I  have  enough  for 
two  dozen  more  cakes,  at  least.  My  profits  this 
week  will  just  about  pay  my  fare." 

"  But,  my  dear,  suppose  you  really  could  not 
afford  to  regard  this  work  as  an  investment,  but 
must  have  the  money.  Many  women  who  are 
forced  to  go  to  the  Exchange  with  their  work 
have  barely  enough  money  to  buy  materials. 
What  would  you  do  then  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  ;  only  I  think  I  should  be  dis- 


MOLLY  GOES  TO  THE  WOMAN'S  EXCHANGEE.    153 

trustful  of  succeeding  quickly  enough,  if  I  were 
in  the  great  need  that  such  scarcity  would  imply, 
to  dare  venture  to  await  results.  I  mean  that  I 
should  do  something  for  which  there  is  always 
a  real  need,  instead  of  spending  my  last  few 
cents  on  such  an  errand.  I  could  not  hope  to 
succeed  at  the  first  attempt,  and  would  not  dare 
to  wait." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  work  '  for  which 
there  is  always  a  real  need  '  ?  " 

Molly  laughed.  "  Well,  I  should  not '  hanker ' 
to  do  it ;  but  I  have  thought  the  matter  all  over, 
and  I  am  sure  if  I  had  need  of  an  immediate 
livelihood  or  else  must  beg  or  borrow,  which  last 
is  the  condition  your  suggested  possibility  pre- 
supposes, I  would  pocket  my  scruples  and  do 
any  menial  work." 

"  Molly,  you  can't  think  what  you  are  saying." 

"  Yes,  I  have  thought  a  great  deal.  I  know 
myself,  and  I  am  sure  that  my  pride  would  suffer 
less  to  do  some  other  woman's  work  for  her  than 
it  would  to  beg  money,  which  is  exactly  what 
borrowing  small  sums  just  to  get  along  with, 
without  any  fair  prospect  of  being  able  to  repay 
it,  amounts  to.  Think  of  the  scorching  shame 
of  that !  and  yet  how  many  helpless  women  go 
on  half  starving  on  what  they  can  make  '  gen- 
teelly '  and  borrowing  from  long  suffering  friends 
to  eke  out.  The  sort  of  pride  that  could  stoop 


154  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

to  that,  yet  reject  as  menial  any  employment 
whatever  that  one  could  satisfactorily  do,  I  can't 
understand.  Many  men  remain  out  of  employ- 
ment months  and  years,  leaving  their  families  to 
starve  or  suffer,  and  borrowing  every  cent  they 
can,  simply  because  genteel  employment  is  lack- 
ing, while  the  very  houses  who  cannot  find  room 
for  all  the  clerks  they  could  get,  need  porters. 
We  women  all  despise  the  men  who  will  not 
take  a  spade  and  dig  rather  than  degrade  them- 
selves by  hanging  on  to  friends,  but  forget  that 
it  is  as  despicable  in  a  woman,  unless  she  is  pre- 
vented by  her  children  from  doing  any  work 
that  comes  to  hand.  The  only  woman  who  can- 
not possibly  do  this  is  the  one  who  is  bound 
hand  and  foot  with  a  baby  or  very  young  family. 
She,  poor  soul,  must  accept  help,  must  do  only 
the  work  she  can  find  to  do  at  home,  but  even 
that,  it  seems  to  me,  ought  not  to  be  lacking. 
How  many  people  do  we  know  who  complain 
that  they  would  be  thankful  to  know  of  any  in- 
telligent person  to  sew  at  their  own  homes,  but 
that  unless  work  is  planned  and  fixed  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  get  it  done  rightly ;  and  to 
busy  housekeepers  the  planning  and  fixing  is 
what  they  want  to  get  rid  of ;  if  they  do  that 
they  may  as  well  save  their  money  and  do  their 
work  at  home.  There  is  just  one  woman  here 
who  not  only  sews  but  does  it  intelligently,  does 


MOLL  Y  GOES  TO  THE  WOMAN'S  EXCHANGE.     155 

not  make  blunders,  and  charges  a  moderate  price 
for  good  work ;  but  she  has  far  more  than  she 
can  do.  You  have  to  wait  a  month  for  Mrs. 
Gibbs  to  take  your  work.  There  is  employment 
for  three  or  four  Mrs.  Gibbses  in  Greenfield, 
but  there  is  only  one,  and  other  seamstresses  are 
often  in  want  of  work." 

Mrs.  Lennox  sewed  thoughtfully  a  few  min- 
utes, then  said :  "  You  surprise  me  by  a  few 
things  you  have  said,  and  I  shall  have  to  think 
over  them  quietly ;  but  you  don't  mean  to  say 
with  regard  to  borrowed  money  that  if  you  had 
been  left  quite  destitute,  and  some  well-to-do 
friend,  say  Mrs.  Welles,  had  offered  you  a  sum 
of  money  to  start  you  in  business,  that  you  would 
have  felt  humiliated  in  accepting  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  indeed,  I  should  gratefully  accept 
help  to  help  myself,  and  if  I  saw  a  good  chance 
of  repaying  it  should  not  hesitate  to  avail  myself 
of  such  aid.  That  is  not  what  I  mean  at  all  by 
living  on  borrowed  money." 

"  I  think  I  understand  what  you  do  mean," 
said  Mrs.  Lennox,  "  yet  it  seems  to  me  very 
hard  to  say  that  one  would  do  menial  work." 

"  Yes,  very  hard,  I  know ;  something  to  shrink 
from,  and  accepted  only  as  an  alternative  to  the 
worse  humiliation  of  hanging  on  to  gentility's 
skirts  dishonorably.  Yet  it  must  be  an  artificial 
state  of  things  which  should  make  any  work  so 


156  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

repugnant,  especially  household  work.  I  don't 
feel  at  all  degraded  by  washing  the  dishes  or 
taking  up  the  ashes  in  my  own  house  (although 
I  confess  I  grudge  the  time,  because  it  is  work 
any  one  can  do,  while  I  have  work  no  one  but 
myself  can  do).  Why  should  I  elsewhere  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  repugnance  is  caused  of  course  by 
the  class  of  persons  who  are  employed  in  house- 
hold work.  It  would  be  the  same  with  any  busi- 
ness or  profession  if  only  the  most  ignorant, 
least  thrifty  and  intelligent  people  went  into  it. 
Nowadays  any  one  is  good  enough  for  household 
work  if  she  is  not  good  enough  for  anything 
else." 

"  Yes,  that  must  be  so,  and  to  me  the  chief 
objection  to  a  superior  woman  getting  her  living 
by  housework  would  be  the  contact  with  uncon- 
genial companions.  But  in  an  emergency,  as 
one  can  in  this  country  always  have  choice  of 
places,  I  would  choose  one  where  all  the  work 
would  be  done  by  myself.  I  should  prefer  hard 
work  alone  to  light  work  with  companionship ; 
and  the  opportunity  of  being  free  from  uncon- 
genial companionship  would  make  service  to  me 
preferable  to  factory  work.  As  for  the  nonsense 
talked  about  being  made  to  feel  one's  social  in- 
feriority by  a  lady  and  not  by  the  factory  over- 
seer, that  is  nonsense  only  understandable  to 
those  who  want  to  keep  up  the  fiction  that 


MOLLY  GOES  TO  THE  WOMAN'S  EXCHANGE.    157 

tyranny  of  mistress  to  maid,  and  not  false  pride, 
keeps  decent  women  from  service." 

"  You  are  exceptionally  fitted  to  make  your 
way  by  keeping  boarders,  or  by  making  table 
luxuries  ;  but  supposing  for  argument's  sake  you 
were  as  little  fitted  as  most  women  —  I,  for  in- 
stance !  what  would  you  have  done  ?  " 

"  I  hardly  know.  I  did  think  whether  I 
might  not  start  a  circulating  library,  we  hear 
that  one  is  so  much  needed  here." 

"  A  circulating  library !  why  of  course  !  " 


CHAPTER  XV. 
WINDSOR   PIE.  —  A  VISIT   FROM   MRS.   FOY. 

EARLY  next  morning  Molly  started  to  town, 
taking  the  pie  in  a  small  wooden  box  that  came 
from  the  grocer's  and  had  held  fine  canned 
goods.  The  Banbury  cakes  were  packed  round 
it  in  waxed  paper  with  utmost  care  that  the 
glazed  surface  of  the  pastry  should  not  be  in- 
jured. The  vacant  space  was  filled  with  cotton 
batting  covered  with  waxed  paper,  and  then  cov- 
ering the  box  with  paper  she  put  a  shawl  strap 
round  it.  The  package  was  neat  enough,  but 
by  the  time  she  reached  the  Exchange  she  found 
it  quite  sufficiently  heavy. 

She  arrived  early,  found  every  one  busy,  but 
after  unpacking  the  pie  whose  appearance  be- 
spoke favor  for  it,  she  was  allowed  to  place  it 
very  prominently  on  the  showcase  where  every 
customer  would  see  it.  She  had  a  card  ready 
prepared  on  which  was  written  in  large,  clear 
characters,  — 

ENGLISH  PIGEON  PIE. 
The  Banbury  cakes  were  ticketed  in  the  same 


WINDSOR  PIE. -A    VISIT  FROM  MRS.   FOY.     159 

way,  and  Molly  told  the  superintendent  she 
would  call  in  the  afternoon,  and  if  the  articles 
were  not  sold,  take  them  home  and  send  fresh 
for  the  next  week. 

When  she  did  return  in  the  afternoon  she 
was  quite  prepared  to  find  that  her  pie  was  still 
there,  but  that  she  might  be  encouraged  to  send 
again,  and  to  learn  from  comments  made  that  a 
smaller  size  would  suit  better,  or  even  that  meat 
pies  would  hardly  be  popular.  But  there  was 
better  fortune  in  store.  The  pie  was  sold  and 
four  of  the  Banbury  cakes,  and  the  manager 
suggested  a  larger  supply  next  week,  and  that 
some  kind  of  pie  might  be  sent  that  could  be  cut 
into  pieces  and  sold,  so  much  a  portion,  for  the 
ladies'  lunch. 

Molly  returned  elated  and  very  hopeful,  al- 
though she  was  too  sensible  to  think  that  to-day's 
good  fortune  was  anything  but  a  lucky  chance. 

"  And  the  fact,  my  dear,  that  the  pastry 
showed  for  itself  that  it  was  of  the  puffiest ;  the 
best  kind  of  omen  for  the  contents,  —  add  that 
to  your  element  of  good  '  luck,'  "  interjected 
Mrs.  Welles,  as  Molly  related  her  experience. 
She  decided  to  make  a  Windsor  pie  the  next 
week,  to  cut,  as  well  as  a  second  pigeon  pie,  and 
also  more  Banbury  cakes. 

Monday  brought  a  visit  from  Mrs.  Foy,  who 
engaged  one  of  the  rooms  Molly  had  ready. 


160  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

And  a  few  days  later  Mrs.  Tomes  returned  to 
see  if  the  rooms  she  had  been  offered  were  va- 
cant, and  finding  one  was  not  she  seemed  much 
annoyed,  then  finally  decided  on  taking  the  one 
shown  her  with  small  hall  room  for  her  little 
boy,  at  twenty-four  dollars.  It  was  a  dollar  less 
than  the  price,  but  Molly  accepted  it. 

She  was  now  beginning  to  keep  house  for  her- 
self, three  children,  and  five  boarders  on  forty- 
four  dollars  a  week.  Molly  had  determined 
when  she  decided  to  take  boarders  that,  no  mat- 
ter what  happened,  those  who  paid  her  should 
have  as  good  or  better  board  than  they  could 
get  elsewhere.  Of  course,  once  she  had  several 
boarders  that  would  be  easy  enough,  but  she  had 
known  cases  of  women  who  had  to  struggle 
along  with  two  or  three  who  suffered,  at  least  to 
the  extent  of  poor  food,  because  the  small  in- 
coming went  so  little  way  toward  the  out-going. 
She  knew  should  she  have  long  to  wait  with 
only  three  or  four  she  would  have  to  inanage 
very  cleverly  to  avoid  going  behind,  or  giving 
poor  board.  One  reason  why,  with  only  partly 
enough  money  coming  in,  many  a  woman  is 
forced  to  ruin  the  reputation  of  her  house,  and 
lose  even  her  few  boarders,  is  because,  too  often, 
that  amount  has  to  provide  for  all  her  private 
family  just  the  same  food  as  for  the  boarders. 
This  Molly  resolved  to  avoid.  If  she  intended 


WINDSOR  PIE.  — A    VISIT  FROM  MRS.   FOY.     161 

to  succeed  she  must  make  the  table  something 
that  would  commend  itself.  If  this  must  be 
done  only  for  two  boarders,  instead  of  providing 
for  all  the  household  alike,  she  would  simply 
send  in  for  the  one  or  two  the  dinner  they  ought 
to  have,  having  a  much  simpler  one  for  herself 
and  children,  and  continue  to  do  this  until  there 
were  enough  boarders  to  enable  her  to  have  a 
generous  table  for  all. 

She  had  been  told  by  women  who  had  got 
rich  by  keeping  boarders  that  there  was  no 
profit  until  you  had  six  or  seven,  after  that 
every  one  counts  ;  of  course  under  six  there  would 
be  loss,  and  she  had  observed  enough  to  know 
that  it  was  while  waiting  for  the  six  that  many 
a  woman  fails,  especially  if  she  has  five  or  six 
of  her  own  family  who  are  to  be  supported  out 
of  money  paid  by  two  or  three  boarders.  A 
wise  woman  would  keep  her  own  family  on  oat- 
meal and  milk,  that  her  boarders  might  have  a 
satisfactory  table  and  so  draw  more ;  but  instead 
of  that  too  often  the  service  is  insufficient,  and 
the  food  poor.  These  were  the  breakers  she 
must  steer  clear  of.  She  must  also  avoid  in- 
trenching on  her  little  reserve,  or  otherwise  go- 
ing into  debt.  Therefore  she  decided  to  make  a 
rough  calculation  of  what  her  expenses  might  be 
expected  to  be,  and  how  far  the  forty-four  dol- 
lars a  week  would  go  to  meet  them. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
INCOMINGS  AND   OUTGOINGS. 

MOLLY'S  income  from  her  boarders  was 
a  week,  which,  as  there  are  four  weeks  and  one 
third  of  a  week  in  each  month,  would  give  her 
$190  with  which  to  meet  her  monthly  expenses. 
She  sat  down  with  pencil  and  paper  and  marked 
down  what  her  expenses  would  be  so  far  as  she 
knew  them  for  the  first  month,  then  she  would 
know  what  she  would  have  for  the  other  ex- 
penses :  Rent,  $ 66.66  ;  servants,  $26 ;  coals, 
$5  ;  tea,  $3 ;  milk,  $10  ;  total,  $110.66.  This 
would  give  her  $80  for  the  butcher,  baker,  gro- 
cer, and  all  the  other  household  expenses.  The 
second  servant  was  an  immediate  necessity,  and 
the  next  month  the  fuel  must  be  at  least  doubled ; 
at  present  it  was  needed  only  for  the  kitchen, 
which  did  not  burn  more  than  a  ton  a  month. 
Ice  would  not  increase,  and  in  allowing  five 
quarts  of  milk  a  day  she  expected  to  have 
enough  by  taking  it  under  her  own  charge. 
She  had  the  experience  of  others  to  tell  her  that 
milk  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  housekeeping. 


INCOMINGS  AND  OUTGOINGS.  163 

Sometimes  a  gallon  barely  seems  to  supply  the 
coffee  for  breakfast,  but  when  an  attempt  is 
made  to  see  where  the  great  leak  can  be  by 
watching  the  pitchers,  etc.,  the  gallon  seems  to 
increase  by  magic  and  the  milk  is  abundant. 
Molly,  therefore,  had  decided  to  buy  one  of  the 
neat  refrigerators  that  come  for  dining-room 
use,  and  to  keep  butter,  fruit,  and  milk  under 
her  own  eye,  sure  that  she  would  save  money  by 
doing  so. 

She  did  not  expect  with  the  five  boarders 
she  had  to  find  her  own  expenses  all  paid  ;  to 
put  it  plainly,  she  did  not  think  that  she 
and  three  children  and  two  servants  could  live 
on  the  profits  made  on  five  people,  if  those 
people  were  to  have  what  they  had  a  right  to 
expect. 

Molly,  when  she  resolved  to  keep  boarders, 
had  called  to  mind  all  she  could  remember  to 
have  been  told  to  her  by  those  who  had  made  a 
success  of  the  business,  and  she  well  knew  that 
the  two  women  who  had  made  most  money 
gave  better  food  and  accommodation  for  the 
money  than  any  one  else.  They  probably  were 
content  to  make  less  at  the  beginning,  and  when 
numbers  increased,  as  there  was  rarely  loss  from 
long  continued  vacancies,  they  began  to  make  a 
profit.  And  Molly  could  see  for  herself  that  if 
income  from  the  five  (or  it  may  be  said  four  and 


164  fyOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

a  half)  boarders  she  now  had  went  near  to  pay- 
all  expenses,  as  she  would  be  at  no  extra  ex- 
pense with  half  a  dozen  more,  except  just  for 
what  they  ate,  she  would  then  be  clearing  a 
handsome  sum  each  month. 

This  all  seemed  clear  as  daylight,  and  yet 
when  she  remembered  what  struggles  and  dis- 
tresses she  had  known  women  even  with  several 
boarders  to  endure,  she  could  not  understand ;  it 
seemed  as  if  her  own  calculations  must  be  too 
sanguine.  True,  the  women  of  whom  she  was 
thinking  lived  in  large  cities  where  the  rent  was 
more  than  double  her  own  ;  but  then  also  for  the 
best  rooms  they  could  and  did  ask  much  higher 
prices,  and  the  smallest  they  would  let  for  no  less 
than  she  would  get  for  her  best  rooms. 

"  Well,  it 's  no  use  for  me  to  worry  about 
what  others  do  or  cannot  do ;  I  must  just  do  the 
very  best  I  can,  see  that  every  dollar  is  used  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  then  try  to  do  right." 

Mr.  Welles  laughed  when  Molly  gave  her 
views  of  keeping  boarders. 

"  So  you  want  to  give  your  boarders  all  you 
possibly  can  for  their  money,  instead  of  as  little 
as  they  will  be  satisfied  with !  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  novelty  in  that  idea,  and  I  often  thought 
a  boarding-house  on  such  principles  ought  to  be 
a  great  success ;  it  is  one  of  the  great  business 
secrets." 


INCOMINGS  AND    OUTGOINGS.  165 

"  What  is  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Welles,  who  was 
strongly  against  Molly  giving  people  too  much 
for  their  money,  although  she  would  almost  cer- 
tainly do  so  herself. 

"  The  secret  of  the  gigantic  retail  businesses 
that  have  grown  up  of  late  years  in  New  York, 
London,  and  Paris,  is  to  sell  quickly  at  very 
small  profits ;  small  profits  and  quick  returns 
make  more  money  than  large  profits  made 
slowly." 

"  Oh,  bother  your  business  maxims.  Molly's 
returns  won't  be  a  bit  quicker  if  she  gorges 
her  boarders  on  real  spring  chicken  and  tender- 
loin steaks  and  puff  paste,  than  if  she  gave  the 
usual  imitation  articles." 

"  They  may  not  be  quicker,  but  they  are  a 
great  deal  more  sure.  Do  you  suppose  any  one 
will  leave  when  they  get  such  fare  ?  and  don't 
you  suppose  that  there  will  soon  be  competition 
to  get  rooms  here,  and  Mrs.  Bishop  may  then 
charge  fancy  prices,  if  she  likes.  Just  look  at 
the  matter  for  a  moment  as  a  business  man 
would.  Most  boarding-houses  change  boarders 
often ;  every  week  or  two  there  is  a  vacancy, 
sometimes  several.  Every  vacancy  means  nearly 
ten  dollars  a  week  loss.  That  is  to  say,  if  only 
one  or  two  leave  when  eight  or  ten  remain,  the 
difference  in  the  marketing  would  be  hardly  per- 
ceptible. Each  double  room  vacant  means  a  loss 


166  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

of  twenty  dollars  if  only  empty  one  week,  and  in 
an  average  house  it  may  be  empty  longer ;  just 
put  that  twenty  dollars  into  your  butcher's  and 
grocer's  bill  for  the  month  and  see  what  a  differ- 
ence it  makes.  Your  essentials  are  the  same, 
your  rent,  servants,  fuel,  lights,  because  you 
can't  cut  down  your  running  expenses  with  every 
variation  in  the  number  of  boarders.  This  be- 
ing the  case  the  woman  whose  house  is  always 
full  could  make  money  and  give  excellent  board, 
while  the  one  who  has  frequent  loss  from  short 
vacancies  will  stint  her  boarders  and  yet  be  a 
loser,  and  the  more  she  stints  the  greater  her 
loss." 

"  So  it  has  always  seemed  to  me,"  said  Molly. 
"  Mrs.  Maclntyre,  who  began  with  a  small  house 
in  a  cheap  block  in  New  York  ten  years  ago, 
and  now  has  three  houses  very  handsomely  fur- 
nished on  Madison  Avenue  and  is  fast  making 
money,  told  me  her  success  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  her  boarders,  at  least  the  married  ones, 
stayed  on  for  years,  and  did  not  leave  town  in 
summer  till  late,  instead  of  being  in  a  hurry,  as 
people  less  comfortable  would  be ;  and  that  in 
order  to  secure  their  rooms  for  fall  they  often 
paid  room  rent  for  summer,  so  that  even  at  that 
season  she  did  better  than  most  people.  Of 
course,  there  were  exceptions.  I  know,  too,  that 
where  we  boarded  in  New  York,  with  a  little  care 


INCOMINGS  AND  OUTGOINGS.  167 

and  no  more  expense  to  our  landlady,  we  might 
have  lived  much  better,  and  the  changes  would 
have  been  fewer,  yet  it  was,  all  things  con- 
sidered, a  very  fair  house.  We  only  paid  twenty 
dollars  a  week  for  two,  and  the  people  who  had 
what  were  called  the  best  rooms,  thirty ;  so  I, 
paying  less  than  half  the  city  rent,  ought  to  give 
very  good  board  indeed,  although  I  find  $10  for 
each  person  is  considered  a  very  good  price 
here,  $8  being  quite  general,  while  $10  is  very 
low  for  New  York;  I  mean,  of  course,  in 
decent  localities." 

"  Cuthbert,  I  am  ashamed  of  you  encouraging 
Molly  to  wear  herself  out  for  other  people. 
That  is  just  what  she  is  planning  to  do,"  said 
Mrs.  Welles,  as  they  walked  home. 

"  Nonsense,  I  am  encouraging  her  to  become 
a  successful  woman,  which  she  will  do  if  left  to 
herself.  She  has  the  right  ideas." 

"  Oh,  Cuthbert,  what  can  you  know  about 
it?"  asked  his  wife  impatiently. 

He  laughed  heartily. 

"  Do  you  think  a  moderately  good-natured 
man  will  go  through  life  and  not  be  consulted  by 
less  fortunate  women  friends  as  to  how  to  make 
a  living  ?  I  know  I  have  been  consulted  half  a 
dozen  times  by  the  widows  of  business  friends, 
and  I  have  always  found  that  although  a  teacher 
understands  that  she  must  teach  all  day  in  or- 


168  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

der  to  make  a  living,  and  so  does  a  woman  who 
proposes  to  go  into  any  business  except  taking 
boarders,  those  who  in  their  reverses  have 
asked  my  advice  about  utilizing  their  houses  for 
this  last  purpose,  I  always  found  were  looking 
forward  to  leading  almost  exactly  the  life  they  had 
hitherto  led.  They  had  in  their  more  prosperous 
days  kept  two,  perhaps  three,  servants,  and  they 
proposed  to  go  on  with  those  and  hoped  to  get 
several  inmates ;  but  I  never  met  with  one,  ex- 
cept Molly,  who  expected  actually  to  work  her- 
self at  the  beginning.  The  expectation  gener- 
ally is  to  make  money  by  giving  as  little  time  as 
possible  and  no  real  work." 

"  Yes,  but  I ' ve  heard  you  say  a  dozen  times, 
Cuthbert,  that  no  one  can  work  themselves  and 
direct  others." 

"  That 's  true  enough ;  only  when  the  business 
has  to  be  made  a  wise  man  works  with  his  men, 
not  doing  their  work  or  helping  them,  but  do- 
ing what  they  cannot  do.  Mistress  Molly  says 
she  intends  being  her  own  cook  until  she  has 
experience  in  quantities,  knows  just  how  far 
things  will  go,  in  fact,  until  she  learns  her  busi- 
ness ;  and  by  her  cooking  she  will  make  the  rep- 
utation of  her  house.  Her  rock  ahead  will  be 
that  she  will  naturally  want  to  employ  a  cook 
later  to  relieve  herself.  Where  will  she  find  a 
substitute  for  herself  ?  " 


INCOMINGS  AND  OUTGOINGS.  169 

"  That 's  it !  She  will  spoil  these  people,  and 
then  kill  herself  to  keep  up  to  her  reputation." 

Mr.  Welles  laughed  again. 

"You  rave  against  Molly  and  would  do  ex- 
actly the  same  yourself." 

"  Of  course  I  should,  but  I  'm  as  strong  again 
as  Molly." 

"  It 's  the  strength  in  the  heart,  my  dear,  the 
courage  and  energy,  and  you  both  have  that." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

EXPEDIENTS   AND   DIFFICULTIES. 

WITH  regard  to  the  laying  out  of  the  eighty 
dollars  Molly  could  as  yet  only  give  a  rough 
guess.  She  would  be  better  able  to  tell  at  the 
month's  end,  but  it  seemed  to  her  that  it  would 
almost  pay  her  bills.  Had  the  weather  been  cold 
enough  to  allow  of  her  going  to  Fulton  Market 
for  fish  and  vegetables  she  knew  she  could  buy 
to  better  advantage ;  that,  however,  she  could  not 
attempt  to  do  until  November,  but  she  made  an 
arrangement  with  her  butcher  by  which,  on  tak- 
ing a  half  sheep  or  lamb,  she  got  it  very  much 
cheaper,  because  he  thus  got  rid  of  the  less 
prime  parts,  while  Molly  could  use  every  part 
to  advantage  ;  and  while  her  table  was  so  small 
she  arranged  for  him  to  hang  the  meat  in  his  ice 
closet.  It  would  be  the  same  with  beef  if  her 
family  became  large  enough  to  use  much  soup. 
Her  only  fear  was  that  in  attempting  to  give  a 
very  good  table  she  might  not  be  able  to  afford 
the  great  variety  some  houses  whose  table  was  by 
no  means  good  provided.  She  had  a  keen  rec- 


EXPEDIENTS  AND  DIFFICULTIES.          171 

ollection  of  three  kinds  of  roast  meat,  all  in- 
ferior as  to  cooking  and  quality,  being  consid- 
ered necessary  in  a  house  with  twenty  boarders, 
and  in  talking  of  it,  the  landlady  had  deprecated 
the  necessity,  saying,  what  was  quite  true,  that 
she  could  not  afford  that  the  three  joints  should 
be  the  best  of  their  kind,  nor  could  one  cook  be 
expected  to  cook  the  three  roasts  besides  a  va- 
riety of  vegetables  properly  ;  and  yet  the  board- 
ers set  so  much  value  on  variety  that  they 
would  not  be  satisfied  with  less.  If  this  should 
be  true  it  would  be  a  terrible  stumbling  block  in 
the  way,  but  Molly  decided  she  would  try  first 
what  simple,  excellent  dinners  would  do.  She 
would  then  take  care  to  find  out  what  each  one 
disliked  and  avoid  it. 

So  the  first  night  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Foy 
dined,  Molly  provided 

Vermicelli  Soup. 

Roast  Beef.  Yorkshire  Pudding. 

Mashed  Potatoes.          String  Beans. 
Ramakins.  Apple  Pie. 

Nuts.  Grapes. 

Coffee. 

She  had  hoped  by  having  dinners  that  re- 
quired little  or  no  attention  after  she  herself  left 
the  kitchen  that  she  could  manage  to  let  Marta 
take  care  of  the  children,  and  the  waitress 
attend  table,  but  she  found  this  did  not  work. 


172  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

The  rainakins  had  been  made  by  Molly  and 
put  in  the  oven,  the  vegetables  were  all  cooked 
and  dressed,  but  John  and  Meg  had  not  been 
accustomed  to  go  to  bed  till  seven,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  send  them  at  six,  the  usual  Green- 
field dinner  hour.  Kate  was  bathed  and  laid  in 
her  cot,  but  Molly  had  to  leave  John  and  Meg 
with  Marta  who  perforce  was  in  the  kitchen,  and 
her  heart  was  in  her  mouth  at  every  sound.  She 
pictured  to  herself  their  dear  little  hands  grasp- 
ing a  saucepan  handle  or  the  hot  oven  door,  or 
eluding  Marta  in  a  dozen  ways,  probable  and 
improbable,  and  she  decided  she  could  not  stand 
another  such  ordeal. 

She  could  have  managed,  perhaps,  better  by 
having  everything  cooked  and  left  ready  for  the 
waitress  to  bring  in  and  letting  Marta  go  upstairs 
with  the  children ;  but  that  would  be  at  the  cost 
of  the  excellence  of  the  dinner,  which  somehow 
Molly  could  not  bring  herself  to  do,  so  she  re- 
solved until  she  could  afford  a  nurse  to  eat  her 
own  meals  early  with  the  children.  She  would 
then  remain  in  the  pantry  to  send  things  in,  to 
carve,  and  watch  any  little  articles  still  cooking 
in  the  kitchen,  although  she  tried  to  avoid  the 
last  as  much  as  possible. 

The  next  night,  therefore,  when  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Tomes  had  joined  the  household,  Molly  sent  the 
dinner  in,  and  did  not  herself  go  in  until  the 
salad  was  put  on. 


EXPEDIENTS  AND  DIFFICULTIES.         173 

She  adopted  this  plan  with  great  regret,  and 
from  the  simple  necessity  of  choosing  between 
her  own  convenience  and  the  comfort  of  her 
boarders.  The  alternative  was  very  disagreeable 
to  her ;  she  felt  it  was  a  somewhat  undignified 
position,  but  not  for  a  moment  must  her  dignity 
be  put  in  the  scale  against  her  duty,  and  she 
did  not  yet  dare  to  incur  the  expense  of  a  third 
servant. 

But  not  many  days  passed  before  Molly  began 
to  think  that  she  had  been  forced  into  a  very 
wise  thing.  She  found  that  by  carving  at  leisure 
she  could  do  it  more  thoroughly  and  carefully 
than  at  the  table.  The  one  night  she  tried  it, 
although  only  two  were  at  the  table,  she  had  not 
known  what  she  had  eaten  herself,  nor  had  she 
enjoyed  her  meal.  Now  she  dined  at  noon  with 
the  children.  She  found  by  knowing  exactly 
what  was  left  after  the  dining-room  was  served 
she  could  arrange  for  next  day  ;  and  as  the  ser- 
vants also  dined  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  what 
was  left  from  the  evening  was  all  available. 

To  give  as  minute  an  account  as  I  would  like 
to  do  of  Molly's  management  of  her  boarding- 
house  would  take  treble  the  space  that  I  have  at 
command,  and  my  story  would  run  to  the  terrible 
dimensions  of  a  Richardsonian  novel.  Some 
slight  sketch  of  the  kind  of  meals  she  furnished 
I  will  try  to  give,  with  a  few  recipes  where  they 


174  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

enabled  her  to  make  her  table  seem  much  better 
than  the  average,  although  the  cost  was  no  more 
to  her. 

I  must  not  forget  to  say  that  Molly  had  paid 
careful  heed  to  one  thing  Mrs.  Welles  had  said. 

"Molly,  remember,  you  must  take  lessons 
in  carving.  My  father  would  carve  a  turkey 
so  that  a  dozen  people  each  got  a  plate  of 
meat  with  some  of  the  breast.  My  husband, 
when  he  has  cut  for  six  people,  begins  to  look 
round  and  wonder  if  the  breast  will  hold  out, 
and  whether  he  will  not  have  to  break  up  the 
carcass  pretty  soon.  While  my  father's  turkey 
would  leave  the  table  a  respectable  bird  still, 
Cuthbert's  is  a  disgrace,  and  no  one  has  had  nice 
pieces." 

"  I  know ;  I  have  observed  that  mystery  be- 
fore. One  would  think  so  many  pounds  of  meat 
would  only  satisfy  just  so  many  people,  no  mat- 
ter how  it  is  cut ;  yet  it  does  make  the  greatest 
difference ;  but  how  could  I  take  lessons  in  carv- 
ing?" 

"  I  don't  know ;  it 's  easy  enough  and  com- 
mon enough  to  do  it  in  London,  but  I  '11  ask 
Cuthbert  to  find  out." 

The  carving  lessons  had  to  lie  in  the  future, 
but  she  did  take  care  to  have  her  knife  like  a 
razor,  and  this  made  a  great  difference.  The 
leg  of  mutton  carved  into  clean,  neat  slices 


EXPEDIENTS  AND  DIFFICULTIES.         175 

looked  very  different,  both  on  the  plate  and  on 
the  dish,  from  one  hacked  and  torn  by  a  blunt 
knife.  With  the  roast  beef  it  made  even  more 
difference,  for  the  meat,  being  diversified  with 
fat  and  lean,  was  less  compact. 

As  I  have  said,  Molly  inquired  of  her  board- 
ers what  they  disliked.  She  found  the  Foys 
liked  everything  but  stewed  oysters  or  oyster 
soup.  Mrs.  Foy  ate  neither  of  these,  nor  did 
she  like  curry,  which  Molly  was  careful  to  ask, 
but  her  husband  did.  The  Tomes  did  not  eat 
veal,  and  disliked  hash  and  stewed  meats  of  any 
kind. 

This  rather  upset  Molly's  programme  ;  she 
had  hoped,  if  her  boarders  would  let  her,  to  give 
them  remarkably  good  meals ;  but  if  nothing  but 
roast  meat  or  steaks  and  chops  would  serve  them 
she  supposed  they  must  have  what  they  wanted. 

She  thought  the  matter  over.  Of  course  she 
meant  to  have  the  very  best  roast  of  some  kind 
every  day,  and  she  must  watch  for  a  few  weeks. 
Many  people  protested  against  things  that  they 
really  liked  very  well.  She  must  try  to  make 
her  table  as  like  a  good  private  table  as  pos- 
sible. Surely  that  must  be  appreciated. 

Nevertheless  she  was  careful  to  bear  in  mind 
the  tastes  of  her  boarders  as  far  as  possible. 
For  instance,  on  days  that  there  was  oyster  soup, 
Molly  remembered  a  day  ahead  to  have  a  plate 


176  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

of  other  soup  for  Mrs.  Foy ;  a  very  inexpen- 
sive and  easy  matter  when  the  family  is  large. 
Stewed  oysters  was  a  Sunday  tea  dish  sometimes, 
then  Mrs.  Foy's  oysters  were  given  her  on  the 
half-shell.  However,  these  matters  belong  to 
Molly's  table  management,  of  which  details  will 
come  later. 

There  was  one  source  of  profit  and  comfort 
that  Molly  was  anxious  to  take  advantage  of,  and 
that  was  having  the  laundry  work  for  the  board- 
ers done  by  a  laundress  hired  by  herself.  She 
asked  Mrs.  Foy  and  Mrs.  Tomes  if  they  would 
like  their  washing  done  in  the  house,  and  they 
were  very  glad,  as  Molly  herself  when  boarding 
had  been  when  the  chance  offered. 

For  the  first  week  she  hired  a  woman  who  had 
worked  for  her  for  some  time  when  she  needed 
extra  help,  and  on  whose  work  she  could  depend. 
She  came  two  days  and  a  half.  The  price  for 
mixed  washing  was  seventy-five  cents  a  dozen, 
and  the  woman's  wages  was  $2.50.  The  board- 
ers had  between  them  three  dozen  pieces,  and 
the  house  washing  was  thus  done  for  next  to 
nothing.  Before  the  second  week  Molly  had  en- 
gaged a  laundress  at  $16  a  month,  and  as  until 
the  house  was  full  she  would  not  be  more  than 
half  employed  in  the  laundry  she  was  to  help  in 
other  ways. 

Now  Molly  could  have  sent  her  children  up- 


EXPEDIENTS  AND  DIFFICULTIES.          177 

stairs  in  Delia's  charge  and  herself  presided 
at  the  table,  but  her  present  plan  was  of  such 
advantage  in  some  ways,  that  she  would  by  no 
means  change  it  at  present. 

So  well  had  Molly's  wares  pleased  the  patrons 
of  the  Exchange  that  she  had  received  a  note :  — 

"  Will  you  make  two  dozen  cheese  cakes,  as 
well  as  more  Banburys  ?  " 

Molly  had  intended,  it  will  be  remembered, 
to  make  another  pigeon  pie,  also  a  Windsor  pie 
that  could  easily  be  cut  into  portions  for  lunch, 
and  Banbury  cakes,  for  her  second  week's  con- 
signment, and  this  order,  which  had  come  with- 
out soliciting,  encouraged  her  very  much.  The 
pastry  making  enabled  her  at  a  mere  nominal 
cost  and  very  little  more  trouble  to  put  a  dainty 
dish  of  fine  pastry  on  her  table  for  dinner  that 
night  by  making  two  or  three  extra  Banburys, 
and  the  same  of  cheese  cakes,  and  while  making 
the  Windsor  pie  she  made  one  to  eat  cold  for 
luncheon. 

In  making  up  the  pie  she  worked  exactly  as 
for  the  pigeon  pie,  only  for  variety's  sake  in- 
stead of  ornamenting  with  leaves  she  cut  a  small 
square  about  three  inches  by  three,  laid  it  on  the 
centre  of  the  pie,  and  then  cut  with  a  sharp  pen- 
knife a  good-sized  hole  through  both  it  and  the 
cover  to  let  out  steam.  To  hide  the  hole  she 
made  a  little  ornament  of  thin  pastry  many 


178  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FA  MIL  Y. 

times  folded,  and  cut  with  a  sharp  knife  into  a 
sort  of  daisy,  on  the  principle  of  the  pastry  rose 
she  made  for  the  pigeon  pie;  then  all  was 
brushed  over  with  egg  carefully.  (See  direc- 
tions for  Pigeon  Pie.) 

Molly  had  early  in  the  week  had  half  a  ham 
boiled.  It  was  nice  for  lunch.  A  thin  slice  of 
it  was  often  required  to  give  a  piquant  flavor  in 
making  sauce  or  soup,  and  it  was  now  on  hand 
for 

WINDSOR  PIE.  Put  at  the  bottom  of  a  deep, 
oval  pie-dish  or  "  baker  "  a  layer  of  lean,  un- 
cooked veal  sliced  half  an  inch  thick.  (Shoul- 
der of  veal  is  excellent  for  this  purpose.) 
Sprinkle  over  it  a  scant  saltspoonful  of  salt  and 
pepper,  mixed  in  the  proportion  of  one  saltspoon- 
ful of  pepper  to  five  of  salt;  then  put  a  thin  layer 
of  ham  and  one  of  forcemeat  (for  which  the  rec- 
ipe will  follow).  Both  the  layer  of  ham  and  of 
forcemeat  must  be  very  thin,  yet  ham  must  cover 
the  veal  entirely,  as  you  would  cover  the  bread 
with  it  for  a  sandwich.  Then  the  forcemeat  must 
be  evenly  laid  all  over  the  ham,  but  both  together 
must  not  exceed  half  an  inch.  Now  lay  another 
layer  of  veal  and  salt  and  pepper,  then  ham  and 
forcemeat  again,  until  the  dish  is  quite  full. 
Lay  something  flat  on  it,  then  a  weight,  for  an 
hour.  Meanwhile  have  prepared  from  bones 
and  scraps  of  veal  about  a  pint  of  stiff  veal  jelly, 


EXPEDIENTS  AND   DIFFICULTIES.         179 

very  well  seasoned ;  pour  this  over  the  meat. 
Wet  the  lip  of  the  dish,  lay  a  strip  of  pastry  all 
round,  pressing  lightly  to  make  them  adhere, 
then  lay  on  the  cover.  (See  directions  for  Pig- 
eon Pie.) 

Prepare  the  forcemeat  thus :  — 

Half  a  pound  of  lean  veal  (in  cold  weather 
pork  sausage  meat  is  better  and  saves  trouble), 
chop  it  very  fine  ;  a  cup  of  fine,  stale  bread 
crumbs  without  any  crust  whatever,  a  dessert- 
spoonful of  finely  chopped  parsley,  a  saltspoonf  ul 
of  finely  powered  thyme,  savory,  and  marjoram, 
a  good  teaspoonf ul  of  salt,  scant  saltspoonful  of 
pepper.  Mix  altogether  with  enough  butter  to 
make  a  crumbling  paste. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CHEESE  CAKES.  —  COLD  MEAT  PIE.  —  COLD  MEAT 
FRITTERS,   AND    OTHER   RECIPES. 

CHEESE  cakes  were  things  that  Molly  had  ex- 
perimented upon  considerably  before  finding  the 
recipe  she  liked.  The  old-time  form  called  for 
sweet  curd,  dried  and  sifted,  and  this  was  per- 
fectly satisfactory  to  the  palate,  but  very  tire- 
some to  do.  The  modern  recipe,  which  does 
away  with  the  curd,  but  retains  the  other  ingre- 
dients, she  found  more  like  lemon  pie,  and  not 
the  real  cheese-cake  texture.  Now  she  was  well 
aware  that  the  principle  on  which  the  curd  was 
used  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  beef  in  mince 
pie,  —  merely  to  afford  a  solid  foundation  for 
the  richer  ingredients.  She  had,  therefore,  tried 
bread  crumbs,  sponge-cake  crumbs,  and  floury 
potatoes,  rice  flour  (boiled  to  a  stiff  mush),  and 
rolled  cracker,  and  had  decided  on  using  the  lat- 
ter. The  rice  made  a  delicious  variety,  but  it 
was  too  moist  for  the  orthodox  cheese  cake. 
The  recipe  she  used  was  as  follows  :  — 

ENGLISH  CHEESE  CAKES.     Four    ounces   of 


CHEESE  CAKES.  -  COLD   MEAT  PIE.        181 

rolled  cracker,  three  ounces  of  fine  butter,  yolks 
of  two  eggs,  two  tablespoorifuls  of  brandy  or 
sherry,  two  ounces  of  sweet  almonds,  half  an 
ounce  of  bitter  almonds,  beaten  to  paste,  the 
grated  rinds  of  two  lemons  (medium  size),  the 
juice  of  half  a  lemon,  and  three  ounces  of  granu- 
lated sugar. 

The  butter  was  creamed,  the  cracker  added, 
then  the  yolks  of  eggs,  brandy  or  wine,  and 
sugar,  all  beaten  very  well. 

As  in  all  cases  of  old-time  recipes  that  called 
for  almonds  beaten,  Molly  used  almond  paste, 
and  when  bitter  almond  was  to  be  a  distinct 
flavor,  as  in  this  case,  she  added  a  few  drops  of 
almond  extract.  She  grated  the  almond  paste 
to  crumbs,  and  beat  it  in  with  the  other  ingredi- 
ents. When  all  was  thoroughly  mixed,  Molly 
put  the  bowl  aside,  and  proceeded  to  fill  oval 
patty-pans.  Of  course,  round  cheese  cakes 
would  have  been  as  good  to  eat,  but  not  so 
pretty  to  look  at ;  and  Molly  had  the  instinct  of 
business,  and  knew  that  form  in  pastry  and  cake 
has  very  much  to  do  with  their  selling  qualities. 

When  the  patties  were  lined  and  pricked  a 
little  on  the  bottom,  to  prevent  the  pastry  rising 
under  the  filling,  she  filled  each  one,  and  quickly 
put  them  into  a  hot  oven.  Perhaps  it  may  be 
needless  to  say  to  those  who  have  watched  Molly 
using  pastry,  that  the  edge  was  only  trimmed 


182  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

off  with  a  sharp,  steel  knife.  There  was  no 
smoothing  with  the  finger ;  in  fact,  she  touched 
the  pastry  as  delicately  as  if  it  were  white  tulle, 
and  not  one  unnecessary  touch  was  given. 

The  cheese  cakes  took  twenty  minutes  for  the 
crust  to  be  a  very  pale  brown  and  the  filling  the 
color  of  ground  cinnamon. 

These  were  packed,  when  cold,  with  the  pies, 
and  sent  to  the  Exchange  by  express,  to  arrive 
Friday  night.  Molly  had  obtained  a  grocery 
box,  and,  by  means  of  a  thick  cardboard  divi- 
sion, had  packed  therein  the  two  pies ;  then 
laid  over  these  a  cardboard  cover,  which  was 
prevented  from  touching  the  top  of  the  pies  by 
a  layer  of  waxed  paper,  cotton,  and  excelsior 
packing,  and  small  slats  fastened  with  tacks 
along  the  sides  to  prevent  the  pressure  (the 
centre  division  also  tended  to  do  this)  ;  then 
came  more  excelsior,  and  each  cheese  cake, 
wrapped  in  waxed  paper,  was  laid  on  it,  a  layer 
of  cotton  wool  on  them,  and  the  box  was  filled 
up  with  excelsior  and  the  cover  nailed  on. 
Molly's  aim  in  packing  had  been  to  avoid  fric- 
tion, which  would  spoil  the  appearance  of  her 
productions,  and,  as  the  result  showed,  she  suc- 
ceeded. 

These  were  busy  days  for  Molly,  although  she 
did  not  find  herself  overworked.  She  was  too 
sensible  to  risk  her  health  and  her  children's 


CHEESE   CAKES.  —  COLD   MEAT  PIE.         183 

welfare  by  overdoing,  and  fortunately,  although 
energetic,  she  was  not  nervous,  and  was  exempt 
from  that  curse  of  busy-minded  women  —  the 
tyranny  of  nervous  excitement  —  that  drives  us 
to  work  long  after  the  need  has  ceased.  I  say 
it  drives  us,  as  if  women  were  peculiarly  sub- 
ject to  it.  Physicians,  however,  say  that  busi- 
ness men  suffer  from  it  quite  as  much.  They 
are  told  to  rest  from  business,  but  cannot  take 
rest,  although  they  know  they  are  not  needed  in 
business ;  rest  is  impossible,  for  a  seeming  ne- 
cessity drives  them  back  to  their  desks.  But 
Molly,  happily,  had  never  known  the  long-con- 
tinued, wearing  cares  that  lead  to  this  condition. 
She  knew  grief ;  but  worry  was  a  stranger  to 
her,  partly  because  her  own  temperament  led 
her  to  do  the  best  she  could,  and  what  she  could 
not  attain  to,  to  leave  unaccomplished.  This 
uncommon  philosophy  extended  to  her  social  life. 
Never  had  she  known  a  pang  on  account  of  be- 
ing less  well  off  or  less  well  dressed  than  her 
neighbors,  nor  would  this  feeling  ever  add  a  pin's 
weight  to  her  burdens. 

But,  although  not  overworked,  her  days  were 
well  filled ;  for  her  second  servant  was  by  no 
means  one  to  be  left  unwatched.  Molly  had 
not  dared,  with  new  people  in  her  house,  to  en- 
gage a  newly-landed  girl  ;  and  yet,  when  she 
saw  the  result  of  a  couple  of  years  "in  the 


184  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

country,"  she  regretted  that  she  had  not  risked 
it.  Marta  was  as  good  as  a  girl  could  be,  and, 
as  she  was  a  fair  cook  and  devoted  to  the  chil- 
dren, Molly  preferred  to  look  to  her  for  aid  with 
them  when  not  busy  in  the  kitchen,  and  with  the 
help  of  Molly's  deft  hands,  Marta  had  plenty  of 
time  to  be  almost  as  good  as  a  nurse. 

Molly's  daily  routine  was  something  as  fol- 
lows :  she  wrote  over-night  her  orders  for  break- 
fast, which  Marta  cooked,  while  Delia  prepared 
the  dining-room,  did  the  hall  work,  steps,  etc. 
Molly,  immediately  after  her  own  toilet,  always 
went  down-stairs,  not  to  do  anything,  but  to  see 
that  all  was  going  on  well.  She  knew  that  the 
certainty  of  her  presence  in  the  kitchen  at  a 
quarter  to  seven  o'clock  would  do  very  much  to 
keep  things  going  straight.  Having  looked 
around,  seen  that  all  was  right,  or  setting  it 
right  if  wrong,  she  went  up-stairs,  washed  Meg 
and  John,  who  were  at  present  bathed  over- 
night, and  gave  little  Kate  her  bath.  Meg,  who 
was  able  to  dress  herself  with  very  little  aid, 
and  help  John,  would  "run  a  race  with  mamma," 
as  to  whether  she  or  Kate  would  be  dressed 
first.  This  was  a  very  happy  half-hour  for 
Molly.  The  children's  pranks  were  amusing; 
but,  most  of  all,  Meg's  tricks  to  attract  Molly's 
attention,  and  so  hinder  her  that  she,  herself, 
might  finish  first ;  and  her  screams  of  laughter 


CUEESE   CAKES.  — COLD  MEAT  PIE.        185 

when  she  thought  she  had  succeeded  in  her  tac- 
tics never  failed  in  bringing  a  similar  response 
from  Molly. 

The  breakfast,  as  yet,  did  not  include  hot 
cakes  ;  so  that,  when  it  was  cooked,  Marta  could 
leave  the  kitchen  and  give  the  children  their 
breakfast  in  the  little  room  Molly  had  appropri- 
ated for  the  purpose.  One  of  the  chief  objec- 
tions to  a  family  boarding  she  had  always  consid- 
ered to  be  the  injury  to  children  from  sitting  at  a 
boarding-house  table,  and  she  could  not  consider 
it  would  be  less  in  her  own  house.  Her  first 
care,  therefore,  was  that  her  children  should  be 
brought  up  as  privately  as  possible,  without  the 
hurtful  influences  of  hearing  older  people's  talk 
and  comments.  This  she  meant  to  accomplish, 
and,  with  the  assistance  of  her  trusty  Marta,  she 
found  it  easy. 

The  breakfast  consisted  of  some  form  of  por- 
ridge or  mush,  and  either  muffins,  corn-bread, 
rolls,  or  biscuits,  and  one  kind  of  meat,  either 
chops,  liver  and  bacon,  ham  and  eggs,  steak, 
veal  cutlet  (when  some  little  dish  would  have 
been  prepared  for  Mrs.  Tomes),  sausages,  or  fish. 
One  or  other  of  these  dishes  was  provided  every 
morning.  Hash,  with  eggs,  was  occasionally 
given  for  breakfast ;  but,  because  of  the  preju- 
dice against  this  excellent  dish,  it  was  rarely 
introduced.  Mock  terrapin  took  its  place  in 


186  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

using  up  cold  meat  as  cold  weather  came,  and 
was  much  liked  and  looked  upon  as  something 
very  superior ;  it  really  cost  no  more  than  hash, 
except  that  it  took  more  time  to  prepare  it.  But 
Molly's  friends  will  long  since  have  known  that 
she  had  learned  to  look  on  time  as  money,  and  to 
coin  it  into  money  —  that  is  to  say,  twenty-five 
cents'  worth  of  meat  and  half  an  hour's  time 
would  be  as  good  as  fifty  cents'  worth  of  meat 
and  ten  minutes'  time.  As  good !  —  how  very 
much  better  ?  —  only  those  who  have  tried  can 
know.  So  cold  meat  and  Molly's  time  —  and 
not  much  of  it,  either  —  made  mock  terrapin, 
while  the  same  cold  meat  and  half  the  time 
would  have  made  hash  and  a  discontented  house. 
Potatoes,  in  one  form  or  other,  were  always 
on  the  table,  and  fruit  preceded  the  breakfast. 
When  melons  were  moderate  in  price,  Molly 
bought  those ;  otherwise,  as  long  as  peaches 
were  plentiful,  she  provided  them.  One  rule 
she  had  soon  laid  down  for  herself  ;  that  was,  to 
market  exactly  as  she  would  for  her  own  family. 
If  peaches  were  dear,  she  would  have  to  buy  in- 
ferior steak,  or  less  in  quantity,  if  she  put  them 
on  the  table ;  therefore,  she  would  have  ice-cold 
baked  apples.  At  first,  as  we  have  seen,  Molly 
had  thought  she  must  give  people  what  they  ex- 
pected to  have;  but  a  week's  experience  with 
Mrs.  Tomes  cured  her  of  that. 


CHEESE  CAKES.  — COLD  MEAT  PIE.   187 

Her  son  was  eight  years  old,  and  the  first 
morning  he  announced  to  his  mother,  as  he  ate 
his  ice-cold  peach  —  for  it  was  in  attention  to 
such  little  matters  that  Molly  hoped  to  excel ; 
therefore,  the  fruit  was  kept  on  ice  till  the  last 
moment  —  in  a  whisper,  loud  enough  for  all 
to  hear : — 

"  I  say,  ma,  this  is  a  good  deal  better  than 
that  other  plaguy  old  place.  Hope  they  don't 
have"  — 

At  this  point,  no  doubt,  a  maternal  warning 
had  beeir  conveyed,  and  Molly  could  only  won- 
der what  he  hoped  she  "  did  not  have." 

Yet,  notwithstanding  that  it  was  evident 
fruit  had  not  formed  part  of  their  breakfast  un- 
til now,  Mrs.  Tomes  looked  with  a  frown  if 
baked  apples  were  presented  to  her  when  she 
expected  melon  or  peaches,  and  those  two  fruits 
were  both  too  expensive  at  this  season  to  buy ; 
and  also,  on  a  perfectly  broiled  chop  being 
placed  before  her  after  she  had  been  a  few  days 
in  the  house,  she  said  to  the  waitress :  — 

"  Is  there  nothing  else  ?  I  don't  care  for 
chop." 

Delia  had  been  told  in  such  a  case  to  say  that 
there  was  cold  ham  (or  whatever  might  be  the 
meat  on  hand)  or  eggs. 

With  a  discontented  look,  Mrs.  Tomes  took 
the  chop. 


188  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Now,  Molly  did  not  have  twice  in  one  week 
the  same  kind  of  meat,  and  Mrs.  Tomes  had 
expressed  herself  as  very  fond  of  chops  and 
steaks  —  so  much  so  that  Molly  had  feared  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  cater  for  her,  for  she  had 
remarked  in  her  experience  that  there  are  none 
so  difficult  to  provide  for  satisfactorily  as  your 
"  plain  roast  and  boiled  "  people,  and  who  like 
nothing  but  steak,  chop,  and  roast  beef. 

In  after  years  Molly,  looking  back  on  this 
year  of  effort,  considered  that  the  hardest  trial 
she  had  had  to  bear  was  the  discontent  of  peo- 
ple who  were  not  satisfied  to  live  in  some  one 
else's  house  as  they  would  have  done  in  their 
own ;  who,  in  fact,  in  their  own  homes,  for  the 
same  money,  would  have  lived  much  less  luxuri- 
ously and  well ;  yet,  because  they  were  board- 
ing, wanted  the  variety  of  a  third-class  hotel, 
instead  of  appreciating  the  fine  quality,  the 
excellent  cooking,  and  the  small  perfections  of 
a  private,  well-kept  house,  which  are  almost  in- 
variably absent  from  the  average  boarding-house, 
and  which  are  only  attainable  by  unvarying  at- 
tention on  the  part  of  the  landlady  —  trifles 
that  cost  nothing,  but  which  every  boarder 
knows  the  lack  of.  These  trifles,  Molly  decided, 
should  not  be  neglected  in  her  house. 

"  No  wonder,"  she  thought,  "  women  who  take 
boarders  get  discouraged,  and  care  only  to  pro- 
vide routine  meals ! " 


DETAILS   OF  MOLLY'S  MANAGEMENT.     189 

Nevertheless,  Molly  did  not  allow  herself  to 
be  discouraged.  This  was  perhaps  because,  al- 
though Mrs.  Tomes  was  a  thorn,  Mr.  Tomes, 
after  they  had  been  in  the  house  a  few  weeks, 
expressed  hearty  satisfaction,  and  youthful  Mrs. 
Foy,  who  had  boarded  very  much  before  her 
marriage,  said,  as  a  convincing  proof  of  her  ap- 
probation :  — 

"I  don't  believe  I  shall  ever  care  to  keep 
house,  Mrs.  Bishop,  so  long  as  I  can  board  with 
you.  Mr.  Foy  agrees  with  me  in  thinking  this 
is  just  the  most  home-like  way  of  living.  At 
least,  if  we  keep  house,  we  will  build  near,  and 
come  to  you  for  meals,  if  you  will  let  us ;  for  I 
confess  I  do  want  a  dear  little  box  of  a  house  of 
my  own." 

Molly  laughed. 

"  If  I  succeed,  you  may  do  so,  and  one  thing 
that  will  help  me  to  succeed  is  just  such  encour- 
aging appreciation ;  and  I  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you  for  letting  me  know  you  are  satisfied." 

"  Satisfied !  I  should  think  we  would  be 
hard  to  please  if  we  were  not.  But  I  wanted  to 
ask  you  something.  Mr.  Foy  has  two  friends 
who  think  they  would  like  to  come  out  here  for 
the  rest  of  the  fall ;  but  we  did  not  know 
whether  you  would  care  for  transient  boarders." 

"  While  my  rooms  stand  empty,  I  shall  be 
only  too  glad,"  said  Molly. 


190  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

They  came;  and  it  may  be  said  here  that,  al- 
though they  only  stayed  to  see  the  last  of  the 
autumn  leaves,  they  were  so  pleased  that  the 
next  spring  they  bespoke  the  first  vacancy  Molly 
might  have. 

But  all  this  is  a  digression  from  Molly's  rou- 
tine of  daily  work,  in  which  we  got  no  farther 
than  the  breakfast. 

After  leaving  the  table,  Molly  went  to  the 
pantry  to  see  what  had  been  removed  from  it, 
for  she  had  given  orders  that  all  food  left  should 
not  be  taken  to  the  kitchen  until  she  had  seen 
it.  (For  the  kitchen  breakfast  she  always  made 
separate  arrangements.)  There  was  not  often 
much  left,  for  Molly  satisfied  herself  with  pro- 
viding plenty  without  the  waste  of  having  much 
cold  food  to  warm  over  ;  but  on  mornings  when 
eggs  were  provided,  there  would  be  sometimes 
two  or  three  left,  and  Molly  knew  servants  well 
enough  to  be  sure  that  any  other  but  Marta 
would  throw  them  away,  and  never  dream  of  put- 
ting them  to  use  ;  also,  any  small  bit  of  meat 
would  be  considered  not  worth  saving,  although 
they  would  not  perhaps  have  wasted  a  large 
piece.  The  eggs  would  boil  hard  for  salad  or 
other  purposes.  Molly  would  give  orders  what 
was  to  be  done  with  the  various  things,  and  then 
would  go  to  market  —  in  Greenfield  at  present, 
although  in  colder  weather  she  intended  to  go  t.o 


DETAILS   OF  MOLLTS  MANAGEMENT.      191 

Fulton  Market  for  supplies,  because  of  the  va- 
riety to  be  obtained  there,  and  because  she  knew 
that  in  large  markets  there  were  times  when  cer- 
tain articles,  usually  very  dear,  were  quite 
cheap.  Thus  game,  salmon,  and  choice  poultry, 
which,  when  to  be  had  at  all  in  Greenfield,  were 
always  about  a  dead  level  in  price  for  each  sea- 
son, were  often  to  be  found  at  prices  which 
made  them  almost  as  cheap  as  butcher's  meat. 

It  is  true  that  Molly  did  not  feel  equal  to 
marketing  profitably  at  a  large  city  market ;  al- 
though she  was  an  unusually  good  judge  of  meat, 
poultry,  and  vegetables,  she  was  a  stranger  to 
the  ways  of  the  markets,  and  the  terms  for  some 
things  differed  from  her  own,  as  they  do,  in- 
deed, in  each  city  ;  and  she  decided  before  she 
undertook  that  phase  of  her  housekeeping  to 
take  lessons  in  marketing.  She  might  not  learn 
much  as  to  meat  and  provisions,  but  she  would 
learn  the  ways  of  the  place.  She  knew  that  to 
seem  uninformed  in  this,  as  in  other  matters,  is 
to  lay  yourself  open  to  imposition,  or  to  ridicule 
if  you  refuse  to  be  imposed  upon. 

In  her  present  marketing,  however,  she  ad- 
hered to  the  principle  which  had  guided  her  in 
her  own  housekeeping  —  that  is,  to  take  care 
that  one  day's  expenses  balance  the  other.  For 
instance,  she  might  decide  to  buy  rather  an  ex- 
pensive article,  such  as  young  ducks  or  spring 


192  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

chickens,  which  would  cost  beyond  the  limit  she 
had  laid  down  as  her  average,  and  if  she  pur- 
chased once  or  twice  a  week  like  this,  and  al- 
lowed her  usual  dinner  bills  to  be  up  to  the  aver- 
age on  other  days,  she  would  have  been  a  consid- 
erable loser  in  the  end,  or  else  had  "  skimpy  " 
days  ;  but,  instead  of  that,  the  day  she  had  been 
extravagant  was  always  followed  by  one  on 
which  the  dinner  cost  less  than  the  average,  as, 
for  instance,  instead  of  following  it  with  roast 
beef,  she  would  have  braised  beef  or  a  leg  of 
mutton.  The  same  with  desserts.  Once  a  week 
or  so,  she  would  indulge  in  Nesselrode  pudding 
or  ice-cream  bombe ;  but  by  the  end  of  the  week 
her  expenses  were  balanced  by  her  spending  a 
little  extra  time  and  making  less  expensive  des- 
serts. But  she  often  was  amused  to  find  that 
the  dessert  costing,  perhaps,  twenty-five  to  forty 
cents  was  as  much  enjoyed  as  those  costing 
double. 

Upon  her  return  from  the  market,  Molly, 
after  removing  her  things,  went  through  each 
room  to  see  if  the  beds  were  nicely  made,  the 
ewers  washed  and  filled,  and  that  nothing  had 
been  neglected  that  ought  to  be  done.  The 
mere  fact  of  Delia  knowing  she  would  do  this 
made  her  more  careful  to  neglect  nothing. 
This  daily  visiting  became  more  necessary  when 
fires  came  into  use.  After  this  inspection  she 


DETAILS   OF  MOLLY'S  MANAGEMENT.     193 

prepared  the  children  to  go  out,  and  in  these 
early  days  either  Delia  or  Marta  took  them. 
Little  Kate  had  to  be  taken  in  her  carriage, 
and  the  two  elder  ones  went  with  her.  The  rest 
of  the  day  Meg  and  John  amused  themselves 
out  of  doors. 

Molly  then  went  to  the  kitchen  and  prepared 
dessert  or  pastry,  made  all  arrangements  possi- 
ble at  that  hour  for  dinner,  and  attended  to  the 
lunch.  She  knew  that  in  many  a  good  boarding- 
house  the  luncheon,  because  there  are  only  la- 
dies to  partake  of  it,  is  often  a  scrappy  meal  — 
odds  and  ends  of  cold  meat,  a  few  pickles,  or 
beets  and  potatoes. 

Instead  of  this  kind  of  meal  Molly  knew  it 
would  not  cost  more  than  twenty-five  cents  extra 
to  have  something  they  might  enjoy.  If  there 
was  cold  ham  or  corned  beef  in  the  house,  then 
she  would  buy  a  couple  of  nice  crisp  lettuce, 
have  hot  biscuit  made,  and  with  some  good  cake 
she  considered  the  luncheon  a  very  appetizing 
one,  with  cocoa  or  chocolate  for  those  who  pre- 
ferred it  to  tea.  But  when  the  meat  was  cold 
veal  or  mutton,  or  even  roast  beef,  it  was  made 
into  one  of  the  appended  savory  dishes,  and 
Molly  reckoned  the  five  cents'  worth  of  stock 
used  to  heat  them  in  was  about  all  the  extra  ex- 
pense. Sometimes  on  chilly  days  a  nice  clam 
or  other  soup  preceded  the  lunch.  While  the 


194  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

party  remained  small,  instead  of  having  lunch 
on  the  large  dining  table,  Molly  had  the  leaves 
of  the  side  table  extended,  a  small  table  cloth 
spread,  and  the  luncheon  served  on  it ;  in  fact,  she 
did  everything  possible  to  avoid  the  conventional 
appearance  of  the  boarding-house  lunch,  and 
trifling  as  such  things  may  seem  they  made 
themselves  felt.  Generally  the  dish  for  lunch- 
eon could  be  watched  while  Molly  attended  to 
other  things,  made  her  wares  for  the  Exchange 
or  dessert  for  dinner. 

After  lunch  Molly  attended  to  her  children, 
planned  clothes,  or  saw  friends  till  four,  when 
down  to  the  kitchen  she  went,  saw  that  all  was 
going  on  toward  dinner,  prepared  anything  that 
might  be  necessary,  and  when  she  had  assured 
herself  that  if  there  was  to  be  roast  meat  the 
oven  was  hot  enough  to  brown  it  quickly  so  that 
there  would  be  no  gray  or  sodden  joint  at  din- 
ner time,  and  that  Marta  had  all  her  instruc- 
tions well  in  her  mind,  she  would  leave  the 
kitchen  for  another  hour,  and  then  go  down  to 
remain  until  the  dinner  was  cooked,  so  much 
depended  on  that  hour.  If  she  was  there  the 
vegetables  would  each  be  put  on  the  fire  at  the 
proper  time  and  boil  in  the  right  way.  If  she 
were  absent,  they  might  be  over  boiled  and  come 
too  sodden  to  table.  Scarcely  even  at  a  first- 
rate  hotel  are  the  vegetables  properly  prepared, 


DETAILS   OF  MOLLY'S  MANAGEMENT.      195 

as  Molly  well  knew,  and  she  had  resolved  not 
only  would  she  buy  choice  ones  (that  is  to  say 
she  chose  only  such  as  were  in  their  prime),  but 
she  was  determined  that  each  should  go  on  to 
the  table  in  the  best  condition  ;  and  it  is  quite 
safe  to  say  that  some  who  ate  them  so  did  it  for 
the  first  time.  Then  the  gravy  and  sauces  she 
gave  her  personal  attention  to. 

One  of  her  theories  was  that  a  good  but  inex- 
pensive fish  with  a  fine  sauce  was  more  appreci- 
ated than  an  expensive  one  with  ordinary  sauce  ; 
therefore,  fine  cod  with  oyster  sauce,  or  haddock 
with  Dutch  sauce,  were  often  part  of  the  bill  of 
fare.  But  these  sauces  Molly  hardly  trusted  to 
Marta  now  that  she  had  so  many  other  dishes  to 
attend  to,  and  when  circumstances  would  prevent 
her  being  on  hand  just  before  dinner  to  make 
them  she  did  so  early,  and  left  them  to  be  heated 
at  the  last  in  a  hot  water  bath. 

I  have  said  already  I  can  only  indicate  the 
points  on  which  Molly  strove  to  improve  on  the 
average  boarding-house.  I  can  only  give  such 
details  as  will  demonstrate  that  these  points 
were  often  not  matters  of  expense,  but  only  of 
care ;  but  when  money  did  form  an  item  it  was 
so  small,  compared  with  the  result,  that  she  pre- 
ferred to  make  money  more  slowly,  and  to  know 
that  her  table  was  entirely  satisfactory. 

At  the  same  time  she  made  no  impossible  at- 


196  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

tempt.  She  would,  for  instance,  have  liked  to 
have  the  pies  always  made  of  puff  paste,  or  at 
least  the  rough  puff ;  but  this  would  not  be  possi- 
ble if  the  family  grew  large,  and  she  reserved 
that  for  patties  or  occasions.  For  ordinary  use 
she  made  an  excellent  crust  from  the  following 
recipe :  — 

PIE  CRUST.  Put  one  pound  of  flour  in  a  bowl, 
mix  with  it  a  teaspoonful  of  baking  powder,  whip 
the  whites  of  two  eggs  to  a  stiff  foam,  put  them 
in  the  centre  of  the  flour  with  a  scant  saltspoon- 
ful  of  salt,  and  make  all  into  a  stiff  paste  with 
about  half  a  cupful  of  water.  Flour  the  board, 
turn  the  paste  on  it,  flour  the  rolling  pin,  roll 
it  out  to  a  thin  sheet.  Divide  half  a  pound  of 
butter  into  three  parts.  Take  one,  spread  it  in 
little  bits  over  the  paste,  dredge  a  little  flour 
over  it,  fold  the  paste  in  three,  flour  the  rolling 
pin  again,  roll  out  as  before,  and  spread  the  sec- 
ond part  of  the  butter  over  it,  dredge,  fold,  roll 
again,  then  add  the  third  portion  of  butter,  fold 
and  roll  again  to  the  thickness  for  a  pie,  one 
third  of  an  inch.  This  pastry  has  to  be  baked 
very  quickly. 

The  cake,  although  generally  some  form  of  the 
"  One,  two,  three,  four  "  cake,  yet  by  Molly's 
knowledge  of  the  effect  of  five  cents'  worth  of 
wine,  or  half  that  value  of  some  uncommon 
blending  of  flavors,  made  the  commonplace  seem 


DETAILS   OF  MOLLY'S  MANAGEMENT.      197 

very  far  from  it.  Macaroons  and  other  dainty 
cakes  replaced  the  too  frequent  ginger  snaps  and 
cookies,  and  were  less  trouble.  Because  as  she 
made  them  herself  they  cost  barely  thirty  cents 
a  pound. 

Of  course,  soup  was  used  almost  daily.  As  a 
rule,  it  alternated  with  fish  to  precede  the  din- 
ner ;  but  sometimes  Molly  felt  she  could  afford 
to  have  both,  by  using  the  less  expensive  kinds 
of  soup,  such  as  tomato  cream  soup,  green  pea 
soup  (made  from  American  canned  peas),  or 
cream  of  celery  made  from  the  coarser  white 
branches  of  celery  and  the  roots  grated. 

I  give  here  a  few  recipes  by  which  Molly  gave 
economical  variety  to  her  table.  If  the  reader 
will  count  up  in  her  own  mind  how  very  few 
dishes  (out  of  the  hundreds  that  are  in  cook 
books)  go  to  make  up  our  daily  fare,  it  will  be 
seen  that  even  half  a  dozen  not  usually  used 
will  add  very  much  to  a  housekeeper's  resources. 
One  recipe  which  she  had  was  a  very  favorite 
way  of  warming  over  cold  meat. 

LUNCHEON  DISHES.  Make  a  sauce  with  a 
large  tablespoonful  of  chopped  onion  fried  yel- 
low in  one  ounce  of  butter.  Stir  into  this  a  ta- 
blespoonful of  flour,  neither  heaping  full  nor 
level,  but  slightly  rounding.  Let  them  cook  to- 
gether a  few  seconds,  stirring  all  the  time  ;  pour 
to  it  a  good  half  cup  of  boiling  stock ;  stir  till  it 


198  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

boils,  and  one  minute  longer.  Remove  from  the 
fire,  and  beat  to  it  one  egg  ;  the  yolk  alone  will 
do  if  you  have  use  for  the  white.  Season  with 
a  scant  half  teaspoonful  of  salt,  and  the  sixth  of 
one  of  pepper.  Butter  a  dish,  cover  each  slice 
of  meat  thickly  with  the  sauce,  and  lay  it  on  the 
dish  taking  care  they  do  not  touch.  When  all 
are  done  set  the  dish  on  the  ice.  When  cold  dip 
each  slice  (which  must  be  removed  from  the  dish 
so  as  not  to  disturb  the  coating  of  sauce)  in  egg 
beaten  with  a  tablespoonful  of  water,  then  in 
cracker  crumbs,  leaving  a  large  quantity  on  a 
dish  so  that  each  slice  can  be  smothered.  When 
all  the  slices  are  crumbed,  put  a  dripping  pan  on 
the  stove  with  some  nice  beef  dripping,  let  it  get 
very  hot,  lay  the  meat  in  it,  and  put  it  a  few  min- 
utes in  a  very  hot  oven  just  to  brown  the  sur- 
face. These  slices  of  meat  may  be  dropped  into 
deep  boiling  fat  and  fried  brown.  When  done 
with,  the  cracker  crumbs  can  be  sifted  and  re- 
turned to  the  jar  for  future  use  ;  if  not  sifted 
they  may  spoil. 

PIE  OF  COLD  MEAT.  This  dish  was  only  unu- 
sual as  being  better  than  the  insipid  one  usually 
offered  under  that  name.  Slices  of  cold  meat 
were  laid  in  a  dish,  a  little  flour,  salt,  and  pepper 
sprinkled  over  each  layer  until  full,  and  then 
stock  boiled  down  from  a  pint  to  half  a  pint 
poured  over  it,  a  crust  put  over,  a  hole  cut  in  the 
centre,  some  little  ornament  to  cover  it,  the 


DETAILS  OF  MOLLY'S  MANAGEMENT.      199 

whole  brushed  over  with  beaten  egg,  and  baked 
one  hour. 

MEAT  FRITTERS.  Cold  meat  chopped  fine, 
about  an  inch  of  boiled  ham  chopped  with  it  (if 
liked),  soften  a  tablespoonful  of  gelatine  in  a 
little  stock  or  cold  soup,  melt  a  tablespoonful  of 
butter  in  a  small  saucepan,  add  a  tablespoonful 
of  flour,  stir  them  together  over  the  fire  till  they 
bubble,  make  a  scant  cupful  of  stock  hot,  and 
stir  the  softened  gelatine  into  it ;  when  dissolved 
pour  it  to  the  butter  and  flour,  stirring  till  it 
boils.  When  the  sauce  is  smooth  and  thick,  put 
to  it  the  chopped  meat  (about  a  pint  to  this 
quantity),  season  with  a  small  teaspoonful  of 
salt  and  a  quarter  one  of  pepper,  and  from  one 
to  two  teaspoonfuls  of  lemon  juice.  Taste  be- 
fore adding  it,  and  when  you  find  the  flavor  just 
changed,  without  being  at  all  sour,  put  in  no 
more.  The  seasoning  must  be  rather  high. 
When  the  mixture  has  all  become  hot  together, 
without  boiling  after  the  meat  is  added,  spread 
it  out  on  a  dish  to  get  cold.  It  will  then  cut 
firm. 

So  far  this  recipe  may  seem  troublesome,  but 
it  is  little  more  so  than  properly  made  hash, 
where  the  onion  has  to  be  fried.  The  chopping 
is  the  same,  and  the  sauce  is  not  more  trouble 
than  frying  the  onion.  If  you  have  stock  strong 
enough  to  jelly  the  gelatine  is  not  required. 

When  the  fritters  are  to  be  made  make  a 


200  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

thick  batter  of  a  scant  cupful  of  milk,  one  of 
flour,  two  eggs,  and  a  saltspoonful  of  salt,  no  bak- 
ing powder.  Make  a  dessertspoonful  of  the 
meat  mixture  into  balls,  have  a  quantity  of  lard 
smoking  hot  in  a  frying  kettle,  drop  each  ball 
into  a  tablespoonful  of  batter,  which  turn  care- 
fully into  the  boiling  fat.  This  quantity  will 
make  a  dozen  and  a  half  of  fritters.  While 
Molly's  family  at  lunch  was  so  small  she  would 
make  half  one  day  and  leave  the  rest  for  cro- 
quettes another. 

CROQUETTES  are  made  exactly  as  above, 
whether  of  cold  meat  or  chicken,  or  lobster,  so 
far  as  the  preparation  goes  ;  the  difference  is  in 
the  final  cooking.  Make  the  meat  mixture  into 
cork  shapes  (not  larger  than  a  cork),  roll  each 
in  beaten  egg,  then  into  cracker  crumbs,  taking 
care  every  part  is  covered.  These  must  be 
dropped  into  fat  so  hot  that  they  are  yellow 
brown  in  two  minutes.  Take  them  up  and  drain 
on  coarse  paper,  then  serve. 

Now  croquettes  made  of  cold  meat  are  too 
often  merely  hash  balls,  which  crumble  to  pieces 
under  the  fork ;  excellent  things  under  their  own 
modest  name,  but  unwelcome  when  they  are 
served  as  croquettes,  which  you  expect  to  be 
creamy  when  broken.  Molly  was  able  to  pre- 
vent her  boarders  having  this  disappointment 
with  less  than  ten  cents  extra  expense  for  each 
day's  luncheon.  Sometimes  she  indulged  them 


DETAILS   OF  MOLLTS  MANAGEMENT.      201 

still  more,  for  if  she  happened  to  be  making 
pies  and  there  was  a  piece  of  dough  as  large 
as  her  own  small  fist  left  over,  she  would  roll  it 
out  very  thin,  cut  it  into  squares  four  inches  by 
three,  lay  a  bit  of  the  fritter  mixture  on  each, 
forming  it  into  a  finger  or  thin  sausage,  then 
would  lap  over  one  side  the  paste,  moisten  the 
upper  surface,  then  fold  the  other  side  the  paste 
to  meet  it  and  overlap  half  an  inch.  The 
ends  were  closed,  and  when  they  were  brushed 
over  with  milk,  if  there  was  no  remnant  of  egg, 
they  were  baked  a  pale  brown. 

Women  will  eat  without  grumbling  very  mis- 
erable lunches,  provided  the  dinner  is  fair ;  but 
no  one  appreciates  a  dainty  midday  meal  more 
than  the  woman  with  so  little  appetite  that  she 
cares  very  little  if  she  eats  or  not,  and  does  so 
more  from  habit  than  inclination.  Very  many 
women  are  like  this. 

Sometimes  for  variety  Molly  would  have  a 
can  of  lobster  (which  while  much  cheaper  than 
fresh  is  excellent  for  cooking),  and  make  lobster 
croquettes  of  one  part  and  scalloped  lobster  of 
the  other. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  recipes  given, 
and  those  that  follow,  stock  is  always  used  in- 
stead of  water.  This  was  one  of  the  secrets  of 
Molly's  table,  an  open  secret  to  all  good  cooks, 
but  so  little  heeded  by  the  general  that  it  was 
never  guessed.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  a  great 


202  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

economy.  Of  course,  with  soup  several  times  a 
week  there  was  no  difficulty  in  having  half  a 
pint  of  stock  always  on  hand,  and  in  a  family  of 
half  a  dozen  persons  the  bones  of  meat  with 
proper  vegetables  to  flavor  would  alone  have  suf- 
ficed ;  but  had  this  not  been  the  case  Molly  would 
have  considered  it  true  economy  to  buy  meat 
solely  for  the  purpose.  Twenty-five  cents'  worth 
of  soup  meat  would  make  stock  enough  for  gra- 
vies for  a  week. 

Cold  meat  has  parted  with  the  greater  part  of 
its  own  gravy  ;  if  warmed  over  with  water  it  is 
tasteless  unless  very  cleverly  cooked.  Warmed 
with  good  soup  for  gravy  the  meat  is  even  bet- 
ter than  fresh  meat  for  many  purposes.  There- 
fore it  was  that  those  who  did  not  like  warmed- 
over  meat  till  they  lived  with  Mrs.  Bishop  did 
not  guess  they  were  eating  it,  so  different  was 
it  from  what  they  had  known. 

Let  any  skeptic  who  doubts  try  mince  or  hash 
or  stew,  and  use  not  water,  but  good  stock ;  not 
broth  of  meat  or  bones  and  simple  water,  but 
well  flavored  with  vegetables,  such  as  would  be 
good  palatable  soup  if  served  at  table,  and  then 
taking  care  that  the  meat  never  boils  but  steeps 
at  boiling  point  in  the  ready  thickened  sauce ; 
and  then  consider  if  such  dishes  are  not  worth 
five  cents  (and  a  very  little  trouble)  more  than 
the  tasteless  ones  she  has  been  accustomed  to  as- 
sociate with  warmed-over  meat. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
PROGRESS.  —  EXCHANGE  GOSSIP. 

ORDERS  came  in  very  plentifully  now  from 
the  Woman's  Exchange.  Mrs.  Tomes  was 
greatly  surprised.  She  had  been  very  incredu- 
lous of  any  one  succeeding,  for  a  friend  of  her 
own  had  sent  various  articles  to  the  Exchange, 
but  they  were  returned  stale  on  her  hands.  An- 
other had  seen  her  own  articles  neglected  and 
others,  not  so  good,  put  forward ;  and  still  an- 
other had  gone  there  and  been  discouraged  by 
being  told  nothing  was  needed;  that  she  was 
welcome  to  leave  what  she  liked,  but  they  did 
not  seem  sanguine  of  success  in  selling  her 
wares.  All  this  Molly  listened  to ;  she  had 
heard  the  same  things  before.  She  had  known 
instances  which  seemed  to  corroborate  them,  and 
yet  her  own  reception  at  the  Exchange  —  and 
her  experience  —  had  been  very  pleasant ! 
With  regard  to  the  first  complaint  (that  articles 
were  returned  unsold)  she  felt  that  the  mana- 
gers might  be  less  to  blame  than  the  consignor, 
for  she  had  herself  seen  things  there  which  she 


MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

certainly  would  not  have  bought ;  and,  most 
likely,  such  articles  would  go  back  to  the  mak- 
ers, to  their  great  surprise  and  discouragement. 
One  lady  connected  with  the  direction  had  said :  — 

"  We  have  a  great  struggle.  Ladies  subscribe 
on  purpose  to  help  their  less  fortunate  friends, 
who  bring  to  us  articles  that  are  unsalable  be- 
cause they  are  not  perfect.  But  the  consignor 
can't  see  that  they  are  not  just  as  good  as  can  be 
bought.  They  want  full  prices  for  their  wares, 
and,  when  they  do  not  sell,  they  are  sure  there 
is  favoritism." 

"  Then  there  is  another  trouble  with  women,  — 
they  are  so  unpunctual,"  this  same  directress  had 
said.  "  A  lady  came  to  us  in  whom  I  was  very 
much  interested.  She  was  evidently  in  great 
need,  and  anxious  to  turn  her  abilities  to  account. 
I  asked  what  she  could  make,  and  among  other 
things  she  mentioned  gumbo  file,  a  dish  which 
I  was  sure  would  find  ready  sale  if  properly 
made  : —  if  people  only  knew  of  it.  To  give  it  a 
fair  chance,  I  told  her  to  make  a  good  deal.  I 
invited  half  a  dozen  Southern  friends  to  lunch 
with  me  at  the  Exchange  on  the  day  she  ap- 
pointed to  send  the  dish.  I  knew  that  if  they 
found  they  could  buy  their  favorite  gumbo  file 
ready  prepared  in  New  York  there  would  be  a 
large  sale  for  it  at  once. 

"  Well,  my  friends  came  faithfully,  but  the 


PROGRESS.  — EXCHANGE  GOSSIP.  205 

gumbo  did  not.  It  came  the  next  day,  however, 
at  the  promised  hour,  with  regrets  that  for  un- 
foreseen reasons  the  consignor  had  been  unable 
to  send  it  the  day  before.  Of  course,"  said  the 
speaker,  "  her  chance  had  gone,  and  yet,  I  sup- 
pose, she  might  have  been  as  successful  as  Mrs. 
X.  had  she  been  punctual  and  her  gumbo  good," 
—  (mentioning  a  lady  who  makes  an  excellent 
living,  and  employs  several  assistants,  only  mak- 
ing rolls)  —  "  and  then,  because  I  invited  a  few 
friends  to  give  her  specialty  a  start,  it  would  be 
said  by  those  for  whom  I  had  not  done  this  that 
I  had  favored  her." 

Molly,  therefore,  had  listened  to  Mrs.  Tomes 
with  respect,  knowing  that  each  person  who  re- 
lated her  experience  had  believed  what  she  said, 
and  that  probably  the  truth  lay  between  them 
all.  One  does  not  need  to  live  many  years  in 
the  world  to  learn  how  rare  it  is  to  find  any 
one  who  can  look  on  matters  impartially.  How 
rare  are  the  women,  or  men,  who  can  see  that 
the  cause  of  their  own  failure  lies  with  them- 
selves !  Who  can  say  to  herself,  "  My  work  is 
not  up  to  the  mark,  and  therefore  I  don't  suc- 
ceed "  ? — or,  "  I  was  not  in  time ;  that 's  why  I 
lost  the  chance  "  ?  And  Molly  could  picture  to 
herself  the  lady  who  sent  the  gumbo  a  day  too 
late  for  the  luncheon  given  for  her  benefit,  be- 
lieving that  she  had  been  ill-treated  by  having 


206  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

so  much  gumbo  ordered  and  returned  on  her 
hands,  and  that  the  Exchange  gave  one  no 
chance  "  unless  you  were  a  favorite." 

Molly's  own  success,  however,  had  not  been 
due  to  favoritism,  and  she  began  to  see  that  she 
would  be  obliged  soon  to  choose  between  the 
boarding-house  and  the  Exchange.  The  Mrs. 
X.  of  whom  she  had  heard  supported  herself  in 
comfort,  and  employed  four  assistants ;  in  fact, 
was  making  as  good  an  income  as  Molly  would 
do  with  her  boarders.  But  she  rather  feared  to 
trust  that  her  own  success  would  be  so  complete 
as  that ;  yet,  very  certainly,  if  her  house  became 
full,  she  could  not  do  justice  to  both.  Some- 
thing of  this  sort  she  said  to  Mrs.  Lennox. 

"You  are  a  lucky  woman,  Molly,  to  have  a 
choice  of  two  roads  to  success  !  But  I  was  think- 
ing it  would  be  so,  and  I  will  now  say  to  you 
something  which  I  have  been  thinking  of.  If 
you  do  not  like  the  idea,  or  have  other  plans, 
forget  what  I  am  going  to  propose.  You  know 
Jenny  helps  Mary  in  her  green-house,  indeed, 
one  alone  could  hardly  manage  it ;  yet  Jenny 
feels  that  she  ought  to  do  something  for  herself, 
and  I  thought  that  if  she  could  help  you  with 
your  cooking,  she  would  be  learning,  and,  as  she 
has  quite  a  taste  that  way,  she  might  perfect 
herself  in  one  or  two  things  you  make ;  there- 
fore, if  you  do  stop  sending  articles  to  the  Ex- 
change, she  might  continue." 


PROGRESS.- EXCHANGE   GOSSIP.  207 

Mrs.  Lennox  spoke  with  hesitation,  but  Molly 
quickly  reassured  her. 

"Why,  Mrs.  Lennox!  I  am  so  glad  that 
you  suggested  this,  for  I  was  wishing,  if  I  could 
not  do  the  two  things  properly  without  killing 
myself,  that  some  one  might  benefit  by  the 
chance.  Jenny  never  occurred  to  me,  but  she 
will  be  just  the  one." 

Mrs.  Lennox  was  very  grateful  to  Molly,  who 
assured  her  that  the  help  Jenny  would  be  just 
now  to  her  —  enabling  her  to  earn  the  welcome 
money  from  the  Exchange  until  her  house  should 
be  full  of  boarders  —  made  the  obligation  hers  ; 
for  Jenny  was  so  bright  and  so  earnest  that  it 
took  her  a  very  short  time  to  make  "  rough  puff 
paste"  just  as  Molly  made  it,  and  macaroons 
were  learned  in  a  couple  of  lessons.  Now  that 
she  had  such  efficient  assistance,  Molly  purposely 
enlarged  the  list  of  articles  she  sent  away,  and 
made  pound  cake  and  nun's  cake,  in  order  that 
Jenny  might  have  a  better  chance  later. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  —  HOW  WON.  —  HER   CHIL- 
DREN'S   EDUCATION. 

IN  the  last  chapter  I  have  somewhat  antici- 
pated matters,  for  Molly  had  her  house  two 
months  before  she  began  to  see  that  the  orders 
from  the  Exchange  were  growing  beyond  her ; 
but,  no  doubt,  the  reader  will  like  to  learn  how 
she  came  out  at  the  end  of  the  first  month  finan- 
cially. It  will  be  remembered  that  she  had 
eighty  dollars  after  paying  for  fuel,  rent,  milk, 
and  servants.  She  found  that  her  housekeeping 
expenses  were  as  follows  :  — 

Grocer,  including  flour  and  all  sundries  .  $20.00 

Butter  (20  pounds  at  28  cents)      .     .     .  5.60 

Eggs  (10  dozen  at  25  cents)     ....  2,50 

Fruit  and  vegetables 10.00 

Butcher,  including  fish 35.00 

Sundry  expenses 5.00 

Gas 5.00 

$83.10 
The  wages  of  the  laundress  Molly  did  not 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  209 

count,  for  the  laundry  was  actually  a  business  by 
itself,  and  Molly  meant  to  reckon  her  profit  and 
loss  (she  did  not  fear  the  last)  on  that  account 
as  separate.  The  boarders'  washing  almost  paid 
the  wages  now,  and  did  not  take  more  than  half 
the  week.  The  laundress  had  nothing  but  the 
washing  to  do  until  it  was  finished,  when,  as 
agreed,  she  lent  a  hand  in  various  ways.  But 
with  the  house  full  of  people,  her  time  would  be 
fully  employed,  and  her  board  as  well  as  wages 
would  be  more  than  paid,  and  the  house  laundry 
work  would  also  be  done  without  interrupting 
the  cook.  If  she  became  as  successful  as  she 
hoped,  there  might  be  too  much  work  for  one 
laundress,  and  then,  of  course,  she  would  hire  a 
woman  to  help  by  the  day.  She  could  not  but 
feel  that  her  future,  by  these  figures,  was  very 
promising.  She  had  fully  expected  to  have  to 
make  up  a  larger  sum,  and  was  delighted  at  the 
smallness  of  the  deficiency.  She  knew  she  had 
catered  liberally,  and  that  the  two  transient 
boarders  who  were  coming  the  next  month 
would  cover  the  deficiency.  She  saw  that  with 
six  boarders  she  would  be  able  to  pay  all  ex- 
penses, but  she  would  make  nothing  but  her  own 
and  her  children's  comfortable  support  (which 
is  already  making  a  great  deal),  she  acknowl- 
edged. If  she  should  be  able  to  save  ever  so 
little  outside  of  this,  she  would  think  herself  a 


210  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

very  fortunate  woman.  Of  course,  a  month 
later,  her  coal  bill  would  double,  and  before 
midwinter,  it  would  cost  four  times  what  it  did 
at  present.  The  gas,  too,  would  greatly  in- 
crease ;  but  two  more  boarders  would  go  far  to 
pay  the  difference. 

But  the  time  came,  not  many  months  later, 
when  Molly  had  a  dozen  boarders,  and  then  she 
did  find  herself  with  money  to  put  away ;  and  as 
she  could  always  have  had  more  boarders  if  she 
had  been  able  to  receive  them,  she  had  no  losses 
from  vacancies. 

As  soon  as  Jenny  Lennox  was  able  to  make 
one  article  for  the  Exchange  perfectly,  Molly  re- 
signed the  making  of  it  and  the  proceeds  to  her. 
In  this  way,  at  the  end  of  six  months,  Jenny 
had  a  business  in  her  hands  which  would  go  on 
increasing  so  long  as  she  kept  her  productions 
up  to  the  required  standard.  Molly  had  gradu- 
ally dropped  it  as  she  ceased  to  need  the  few 
extra  dollars. 

Jenny  Lennox  has  not  made  a  fortune 
through  the  Exchange,  but  she  has  and  does 
make  more  than  she  could  in  any  other  way 
without  leaving  home,  without  capital,  and  with- 
out employing  all  her  time.  She  clothes  herself, 
and  assists  the  narrow  income  of  the  family. 

And  now  we  can  only  glance  at  the  next  fif- 
teen years  of  Molly's  life,  during  which  her 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  211 

children  grew  toward  manhood  and  womanhood. 
Molly  had  prospered  meanwhile  by  dint  of  faith- 
ful hard  work.  Not  by  any  means  easy  had 
been  those  years  of  prosperity,  but  Molly  had 
braced  herself  to  encounter  difficulties,  and  to 
endure  annoyances.  The  battle  of  life  she  knew 
was  not  to  be  won  by  sitting  in  soft  places.  She 
encountered  suspicion  and  injustice  and  discon- 
tent where  she  knew  she  ought  only  to  have  met 
with  grateful  confidence,  and  yet  the  sweet  ap- 
preciation she  also  met  with  more  than  balanced 
it  all.  But  the  most  exasperating  hardship  of 
her  life  was  caused  by  the  difficulty  of  finding 
faithful  service. 

Her  difficulty  began  when  she  felt  it  due  to 
herself  to  take  a  cook.  She  needed  more  time 
for  marketing  and  housekeeping,  as  her  board- 
ers increased,  and  she  began  her  quest.  She 
wanted  a  competent  person  for  plain  cooking, 
and  expected  to  pay  good  wages.  Every  house- 
keeper will  know  what  befell  Molly.  The  com- 
petent person  with  reference  was  engaged  at 
twenty  dollars  a  month,  and  a  promise  from 
Molly  that  if  she  found  her  valuable  after  six 
months  to  raise  her  to  twenty-five,  "  because," 
she  reasoned,  "  a  really  economical,  good  woman 
in  the  kitchen  will  be  priceless  to  me,  and  the 
five  dollars  extra  will  be  nothing,  for  she  will 
save  it." 


212  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

Alas  for  Molly !  She  found  the  young  woman 
actually  knew  no  more  of  cooking  than  the  aver- 
age general  servant.  She  could  broil  steak 
badly,  roast  meat  the  same,  and  make  a  vile  pie. 
Because  the  cook  was  bad,  Molly  had  no  notion 
that  her  boarders  must  suffer,  so  she  resumed  her 
place  in  the  kitchen.  On  the  arrival  of  the  cook 
she  had  given  the  children  to  Marta's  care,  who 
was  devoted  to  them,  and  she  could  not  recall 
Marta  to  her  aid,  for  the  new  cook  was  not 
cleanly  enough  to  change  places  with  her. 
Therefore,  for  one  month,  Molly  paid  cook's 
wages  to  a  woman  who  simply  helped  her  in  the 
kitchen,  she  herself  doing  the  work.  This 
seemed  outrageous,  but  Molly  learned  that  it 
was  really  not  so  very  bad,  compared  with  later 
experience,  for  the  woman  was  good  natured  and 
respectful.  She  intimated,  of  course,  that 
Molly's  views  were  peculiar  to  herself,  that 
everywhere  else  her  cooking  was  thought  good. 
The  next  experiment  was  far  worse.  Molly  had 
sought  far  and  wide,  walked  between  aisles  of 
hard-featured,  unclean,  disreputable  looking 
women,  all  cooks,  out  of  place,  looking  vainly 
for  one  of  good  face  and  respectable  attire  that 
she  would  be  willing  to  introduce  into  her  house. 
There  did  seem  to  be  respectable  waitresses, 
nurses,  chamber  maids,  but  no  cooks. 

At  last,  in  despair,  knowing  she  must  have  a 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  213 

cook,  she  engaged  the  least  truculent  looking 
Hibernian  she  could  find.  She  had  a  year's 
reference. 

Molly  went  on  the  principle  that  unless  you 
give  a  woman  a  chance  to  show  what  she  can  do, 
by  leaving  her  uuinterfered  with  for  the  first 
day  or  two,  you  can't  tell  what  is  in  her.  There- 
fore she  gave  her  orders  for  breakfast  as  usual 
over  night:  hominy,  graham  muffins,  broiled 
chops,  fried  potatoes.  The  potatoes  were  cold 
ones,  which  Molly  usually  had  cut  half  an  inch 
thick,  floured,  seasoned,  and  then  fried,  or  rather 
sauted  in  fat  till  yellow  brown  one  side,  then 
turned  and  browned  the  other.  They  then 
made  a  handsome  dish  of  fried  potatoes.  Molly 
paid  her  usual  visit  to  the  kitchen  before  seven, 
found  the  fire  black,  not  yet  burned  up,  and  not 
likely  to  burn,  being  full  of  fresh  coals. 

"Why,  Bridget,  we  shall  never  have  break- 
fast on  time,  I  'm  afraid,"  said  Molly. 

"  Och  an'  don't  you  worry,  ma'am ;  I  was  niver 
late  wid  a  breakfast  yet." 

Bridget  caught  up  an  apron  full  of  sticks  as 
she  spoke,  and  was  proceeding  to  jab  them  down 
through  the  coals. 

"  No,  Bridget,  that  will  not  help  you  at  all. 
The  mistake  is  in  building  the  fire  ;  you  have 
not  allowed  the  wood  to  burn  sufficiently,  for  it  is 
still  black  and  smouldering  underneath,  and  then 


214  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

you  put  on  all  the  coal  at  once.  To-morrow  if 
you  will  make  first  a  good  wood  fire  by  letting 
it  half  burn  through,  then  put  on  a  few  coals  at 
a  time,  you  will  find  that  by  seven  o'clock  you 
will  have  the  kettle  boiling  and  a  hot  oven." 

While  Molly  spoke  she  took  off  the  coals  till 
she  came  to  the  wood,  which  was  already  starting 
up  into  fresh  flames  from  the  air  let  into  it,  then 
she  put  on  the  lids,  and  said,  "  Now,  Bridget,  I 
leave  you  to  get  breakfast.  It  will  be  too  late 
this  morning  for  muffins,  but  if  you  put  more 
coal  on  when  this  has  burnt  bright,  you  will  find 
that  the  fire  will  be  ready  for  broiling  before 
you  need  it." 

Bridget  had  hitherto  said  nothing,  but  now 
turned  as  Molly  left  the  kitchen,  and  said,  with 
a  laugh,  "  As  if  I  naded  any  one  to  tache  me  to 
make  a  fire !  I  that 's  cooked  for  the  best  av 
families  for  twenty  years." 

Molly  wisely  refrained  from  noticing  this 
speech,  but  she  concluded  Bridget  was  not 
likely  to  be  an  improvement  on  the  last  cook, 
unless,  indeed,  her  abilities  should  prove  such  as 
to  justify  her  in  resenting  interference. 

When  breakfast  was  served  her  doubts  were 
settled.  The  potatoes,  instead  of  being  fried  as 
she  directed,  had  been  chopped  and  fried  in  cool 
grease ;  they  were,  consequently,  grayish-white, 
familiar  enough  to  those  who  have  been  de- 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  215 

pendent  on  the  average  boarding-house  cook, 
but  very  distasteful  to  Molly.  The  chops  black- 
ened every  plate  on  which  they  were  put,  and 
the  hominy,  which  Molly  was  sure  could  not  be 
sufficiently  done,  was  really  cooked  to  a  paste. 
She  could  not  understand  how  this  had  been 
managed  until  she  began  to  eat,  when  she  de- 
tected at  once  a  slight  taste  of  baking  soda,  and 
then  she  remembered  hearing  a  woman  say  she 
was  going  to  make  a  chicken  pot-pie,  after  gos- 
siping her  morning  away. 

"  But  you  've  only  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 
How  can  you  make  pot-pie.  The  chickens  will 
need  much  longer  ?  " 

"  Oh,  pshaw !  Just  slap  a  little  carbonate  of 
soda  in  with  them,  and  they  '11  be  tender." 
(Molly  had  partaken  of  the  pot-pie  at  the  given 
time ;  it  was  flat  and  bad  as  a  pot-pie  could  be, 
but  the  chickens  were  almost  too  tender.)  Un- 
doubtedly her  own  cook  had  resorted  to  the 
soda-box  to  soften  the  hominy. 

After  this,  Molly  resolved  to  trust  no  more  to 
her  new  cook.  For  a  few  days  she  managed,  by 
convenient  deafness,  and  by  seeing  to  everything 
herself,  to  get  along,  Bridget  constantly  mutter- 
ing "  that  she  had  cooked  twenty  years  for  mil- 
lionaires, and  it  was  strange  she  could  n't  do  it 
for  a  lot  of  common  boarders." 

To  be  sure,  the  millionaires  had  not  had  such 


216  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"fusses  and  messes"  as  Molly  wanted;  they  had 
"  plenty  of  good  meat."  To  all  of  which  pleasant 
talk  Molly  paid  no  apparent  heed.  This  woman 
had  to  be  in  the  house  a  month,  and  for  such 
mere  expressions  of  opinion  she  could  not  be 
discharged.  Therefore,  unless  Molly  wanted  to 
pay  her  a  month's  wages,  and  send  her  away  at 
once,  she  must  avoid  provoking  any  open  in- 
solence. 

Therefore,  though  she  had  to  be  daily  in  the 
kitchen,  she  got  along  for  a*  week,  until  one 
morning  she  arranged  the  fire  for  baking  before 
going  to  market,  and  when  she  returned,  ready 
to  make  patties,  which  required  a  very  hot  oven, 
she  found  all  her  arrangements  changed,  the 
cover  off,  and  a  small  saucepan  set  down  on  the 
fire. 

At  this  Molly's  patience  was  nearly  ex- 
hausted. 

"  Oh,  dear !  Bridget,  the  oven  must  be  cold." 

"  Och,  ye  've  never  enough  fire  in  that  stove 
to  make  it  hot.  Yer  can't  have  hot  ovens  widout 
burning  coals,  that 's  very  sure." 

It  was  this  person's  cue  to  treat  Molly's  in- 
structions not  to  over-fill  the  fire-box  with  coal 
as  "stinginess,"  her  own  idea  being  to  fill  up 
the  stove  until  the  coals  reached  the  covers. 

"But,"  said  Molly,  forcing  herself  to  speak 
gently,  "you  don't  understand  the  management 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  217 

of  a  range ;  if  you  take  off  the  covers  the 
heat "  — 

"  Och,  an'  indade  I  understand  the  range  as 
well  as  the  man  that  made  it,  and  better,  may 
be." 

In  this  sentence  lay  the  key  to  at  least  one 
half  the  servant  difficulty:  the  belief  of  the 
densely  ignorant  that  they  need  no  teaching. 

Just  here,  perhaps,  I  may  as  well  give  one  of 
the  "  messes  "  which  I  alluded  to,  a  chapter  or 
two  back,  as  a  dish  which  became  famous  among 
Molly's  boarders,  who  little  knew  that  it  took 
the  place  —  and  cost  little  beyond  the  price  — 
of  the  too  prevalent  hash. 

MOCK  TERRAPIN.  A  pint  of  nicely-flavored 
broth,  vegetable  soup,  or  stock,  whichever  is 
handy,  and  about  two  pounds  of  cold  meat 
(lamb,  veal,  mutton,  or  beef),  cut  in  small,  inch 
squares,  quite  free  from  gristle  or  skin ;  two 
tablespoonfuls  of  butter,  two  of  flour,  and  a 
small  cup  of  fine  cider  or  sherry.  (The  soup 
being  already  flavored  will  render  other  flavor- 
ing unnecessary.)  Put  the  butter  and  flour  into 
one  saucepan  over  the  fire;  let  the  soup  get 
boiling  hot  in  another ;  stir  the  butter  and  flour 
till  they  bubble  ;  pour  the  boiling  soup  to  them, 
quickly  stirring  all  the  time.  This  should  now 
look  like  smooth  drawn-butter,  slightly  colored. 
Let  it  boil  one  minute  ;  remove  it  from  the  fire 


218  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

to  a  spot  where  it  will  keep  at  boiling-point,  but 
not  boil.  (On  this  depends  the  success  of  the 
dish,  for,  after  the  meat  is  in,  it  must  steep  at 
boiling-point  half  an  hour,  but  not  boil;  a 
double  boiler  would  make  success  certain.) 
Lay  the  meat  in  with  a  level  teaspoonful  of  salt 
and  a  quarter  one  of  pepper ;  stir  all  round  ; 
then  add  a  small  teacupf ul  (or  two  wineglassfuls) 
of  sherry  or  cider  (cider  will  do  instead  of  wine 
for  any  unsweetened  dish),  and  leave  it  half  an 
hour.  Boil  six  or  eight  eggs  quite  hard  (that 
is,  for  twelve  minutes),  lay  them  in  cold  water, 
to  make  the  shells  leave  easily,  remove  the  shells, 
cut  each  egg  in  thick  slices,  and,  when  the  meat 
is  done,  pour  the  mock  terrapin  on  a  large  platter, 
and  cover  with  the  sliced  eggs.  Round  the  edge 
of  the  dish,  split  pickled  gherkins  may  be  laid 
at  intervals,  and  served  with  it ;  or  cut  lemon 
can  be  handed  around. 

This  is  a  very  large  dish.  For  three  or  four 
persons  one  fourth  the  quantity  can  be  made. 
This  dish  —  wine,  stock,  and  all  —  did  not  cost 
fifteen  cents  more  than  hash  (that  is,  not  one 
cent  to  each  person).  As  Molly  never  had  hash, 
without  eggs  to  accompany  it,  the  eggs  used  took 
the  place  of  them ;  but  the  dish  is  excellent 
without. 

The  words  used  by  Bridget  in  the  foregoing 
conversation  were  less  insolent  than  others  Molly 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  219 

had  forced  herself  to  ignore,  but  they,  and  the 
vexation  of  finding  her  work  delayed,  were  the 
last  straws.  She  resolved  to  sacrifice  the  rest 
of  the  month's  money  rather  than  endure  the 
woman  in  the  kitchen  another  hour,  and  within 
the  hour  she  left  with  twenty  unearned  dollars 
in  her  pocket,  and  left  the  whole  household  with 
light  hearts  that  they  were  free  of  her.  The 
work  without  her  vulgar  presence  seemed  almost 
like  play. 

From  this  time  Molly  gave  up  engaging  so- 
called  "  cooks."  She  found  it  better  to  take  a 
newly-landed  girl,  although  she  might  have  to 
spend  a  couple  of  months  in  the  kitchen  with  a 
likely  one.  The  unlikely  she  discharged  as  soon 
as  she  discovered  the  uselessness  of  trying  to 
train  her.  The  daily  supervision  after,  of  course, 
practically  made  of  Molly  a  sort  of  head  cook 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  (for,  in  fifteen  years, 
she  had  trained  and  lost  several  cooks)  ;  yet,  on 
the  whole,  she  found  her  plan  the  best,  for  at 
least  she  did  not,  for  the  first  year,  pay  large 
wages,  and  it  was  not  such  hard  work  to  struggle 
with  the  ignorance  that  knows  itself,  as  to 
struggle  with  the  impudent  ignorance  that 
believes  itself  knowledge. 

Therefore  I  say,  although  they  were  cheerful, 
prosperous  years  for  Molly,  they  were  years  of 
hard  work. 


220  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

But  of  late,  even  this  matter  of  engaging  a 
green  girl  was  not  an  easy  one.  Castle  Garden 
is  no  longer  what  it  was,  for  others  have  found 
out  the  better  value  of  the  confessedly  incom- 
petent, and  for  every  girl  there  are  a  dozen 
places  waiting. 

The  proper  education  of  her  children  had 
been  a  matter  of  the  gravest  thought  and  care. 
Molly's  idea  of  education  was  that  it  was  better 
for  children  to  learn  a  few  things  well  than 
many  imperfectly.  She  rather  clung  to  the  old- 
fashioned  notion  that  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic  should  be  mastered  before  other 
branches  were  gone  into.  Reading  seemed  the 
gateway  to  all  knowledge,  and  if  a  child  showed 
a  decided  taste  for  any  particular  branch  of 
study  every  effort  should  be  made  to  help  it  to 
pursue  that  branch.  It  did  not  seem  to  her  — 
and  she  studied  the  matter  from  its  results  on 
girls  who  had  gone  through  the  usual  high- 
school  course  —  that  the  little  bit  they  learned 
of  astronomy,  physiology,  geology,  and  half  a 
dozen  other  sciences,  for  the  useful  study  of 
which  a  lifetime  is  hardly  too  much,  added  any- 
thing to  their  usefulness  as  women,  or  to  their 
pleasures.  Not  that  the  thorough  study  of  any 
one  of  these  things  would  not  have  been  a  great 
accomplishment,  and  she  would  have  encouraged 
to  the  utmost  any  inclinations  to  a  special  study 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  221 

of  any  ism  or  logy  her  girls  might  have  shown. 
Her  theory  was  that  well-directed  reading,  that 
is  to  say,  historical  reading,  in  which  the  refer- 
ences were  looked  up ;  travels,  in  which  the 
same  plan  was  pursued,  would  give  as  much 
general  information  as  is  required  to  make  an 
intelligent,  well-informed  woman. 

Molly  was  not  prepared  to  do  battle  for  her 
opinions  on  this  subject,  nor  was  she  very  sure 
that  she  was  right ;  but  she  did  think  over  the 
matter  very  earnestly.  She  paid  special  atten- 
tion for  a  year  or  two  to  every  "  girl  graduate  " 
she  saw,  and  in  the  end  she  adopted  for  Meg 
the  old  system  of  learning  the  three  R's,  and 
watched  for  any  special  talent  or  taste  she  might 
have.  Music,  from  the  first,  it  was  evident  she 
would  do  nothing  with,  although  she  was  anxious 
to  learn  ;  but  she  had  no  ear,  —  could  not  catch 
the  tune  even  of  the  childish  nursery  jingles. 
But  Molly  did  believe  most  thoroughly  in 
Doctor  Johnson's  dictum,  that  as  many  lan- 
guages as  you  know,  so  many  lives  you  live,  and 
knowing  how  much  her  own  familiar  knowledge 
of  French,  and  less  knowledge  of  German,  had 
added  to  her  pleasure  in  life,  she  was  determined 
that  her  children  should  benefit  by  it. 

For  this  reason,  as  soon  as  a  living  was  as- 
sured, Molly  cast  about  for  a  French  nurse.  It 
was  easy  enough  to  find  one,  but  the  one  she 


222  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

wanted  was  not  of  this  kind.  She  wanted  a 
simple,  country  girl,  even  if  she  knew  nothing 
at  all  of  civilized  life  as  we  understand  it.  Of 
course,  she  did  not  want  a  mere  goatherd,  who 
could  not  read  or  write ;  but  a  French  Marta 
would  have  suited  better  than  a  nimble-minded, 
and  still  more  nimble-fingered,  Parisian.  After 
some  months  of  effort,  a  Swiss  girl  was  found 
who  spoke  fairly  good  French,  and  no  English 
at  all,  and  within  a  year  from  the  time  she  came 
Meg,  John,  and  Kate  were  chattering  to  her 
glibly. 

Many  people  wondered  at  a  sensible  woman 
like  Molly  caring  to  have  her  children  learn 
French  from  an  uneducated  girl.  Her  answer 
was  this :  — 

"  If  I  could  afford  to  have  a  French  lady  with 
me  all  the  time  I  would  not  think  of  this;  but 
that  is  out  of  the  question,  and  fluent  conversa- 
tional French  is  more  valuable,  even  if  the  ac- 
cent is  not  so  good,  than  school  French  which, 
as  a  rule,  only  serves,  after  years  of  study,  to 
enable  the  student  to  stumble  through  a  page  of 
reading,  and  to  write,  with  infinite  difficulty,  a 
French  letter ;  and  even  this  will  drop  from 
one  in  a  few  years.  Now  I  reason  this  way: 
we  all  speak  broken  French,  even  when  most 
fluent.  There  will  be  the  English  accent. 
Well,  a  little  more  or  less  of  accent  will  not 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  223 

be  of  much  importance, — but  then  I  really  do 
not  see  that  it  need  necessarily  be  so.  Many 
people,  not  rich  enough  to  pay  fancy  wages  to 
fancy  nurses,  have  a  young  Irishwoman  to  take 
care  of  their  children.  And,  more  often  than 
not,  she  will  have  the  richest  brogue,  but  our 
children  are  not  affected  thereby  ;  they  have  no 
brogue.  It  is  true,  Meg  has  told  me  once  or 
twice  that  Marta  was  'just  after  doing  so  and 
so,'  and  a  few  other  locutions  of  the  sort,  which 
she  will  drop  in  a  very  short  time." 
"  Yes,  because  you  will  correct  her." 
"  Well,  I  shall  correct  her  French,  so  far  as  I 
am  able ;  but  what  I  think  is,  that  when  she 
comes  to  use  books  she  will  correct  herself  as 
naturally  as  she  will  correct  her  Hibernian  Eng- 
lish ;  and  even  if  she  does  not,  any  fluent,  con- 
versible  French  short  of  patois  —  and,  of  course, 
I  shall  not  take  a  girl  who  uses  that  —  will  be 
better  than  the  usual  useless  school  knowledge; 
and  I  shall  watch  for  opportunities  of  doing 
better  for  them.  I  may  meet  with  a  French 
lady  who,  in  exchange  for  board,  will  talk  to  the 
children  a  stated  time  in  the  day." 

And  thus  it  was  that  as  Meg,  John,  and  Kate 
became  ready  for  school,  they  already  were 
familiar  with  oral  French  and  German,  for 
Molly  had  never  lost  her  habit  of  speaking 
German  to  Marta. 


224  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

I  said  the  worst  hardship  of  Molly's  life  was 
the  difficulty  of  finding  suitable  assistance  in 
return  for  a  good  home  and  liberal  wages ;  but 
there  was  another  element  of  vexation  that  had 
helped  to  cloud  her  path,  and  that  was  her  hus- 
band's family.  Of  course,  their  plan,  so  tri- 
umphantly unfolded  to  Molly,  had  failed,  as  she 
knew  it  must  fail,  and  they  were  much  worse  off 
for  the  experiment. 

Then  had  come  other  equally  wild  schemes, 
all  based  on  the  necessity  of  living  in  the  same 
apparent  style  that  they  were  brought  up  in,  the 
most  disastrous  being  an  arrangement  with  a 
very  elegant  French  baroness  to  take  the  house 
and  board  the  family  for  part  of  the  rent.  The 
house  was  quickly  filled  with  elegant  foreigners, 
and  all  went  joyously  for  six  months.  Madame 
did  not  pay  the  rent,  but  had  magnificent  dia- 
monds and  excellent  reasons,  which  she  gave  as 
security. 

At  the  six  months'  end,  however,  Mrs.  Bishop, 
Senior,  was  summoned  by  telegraph  to  Green- 
field ;  Molly  was  dangerously  ill.  The  daughters 
were  away,  having  taken  their  father  to  Clifton 
Springs. 

Mrs.  Bishop  started  on  her  journey,  and,  on 
reaching  Molly's  house,  found  her  quite  well ; 
no  such  telegram  had  been  sent.  Molly  had 
never  believed  in  the  "  Baroness,"  and,  when 


MOLLY'S  SUCCESS.  225 

she  heard  the  story,  instantly  started  back  with 
Mrs.  Bishop,  and  found,  as  she  expected,  that 
the  "Baroness"  had  departed  with  her  friends. 

It  is  needless  to  say  the  diamonds  were 
splendid  paste ;  and,  worse  than  all,  Mrs.  Bishop 
found  that  her  own  tradesmen  had  supposed 
they  were  supplying  her,  and  everything  had 
been  charged  to  her  that  had  been  ordered  to 
the  house. 

In  all  these  crises  Molly's  common  sense  was 
called  on  to  straighten  out  matters ;  but  so  long 
as  there  was  any  choice  whatever,  her  services 
only  were  accepted,  —  never  her  advice.  Then 
came  a  time  when,  having  wasted  everything, 
they  had  to  sell  the  house,  and  go  to  live  in  a 
very  small  way  in  Belgium,  on  the  proceeds. 
Had  they  rented  it  as  soon  as  they  lost  their 
money,  they  would  have  received  a  comfortable 
income  from  it.  But  their  transference,  which 
was  the  doom  of  their  gentility,  was  a  blessing 
to  Molly. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
MOLLY'S  PLANS  FOR  MEG.  —  DR.  MILNE  SPEAKS. 

MOLLY  had  very  carefully  watched  her  chil- 
dren for  indications  of  any  special  talents  they 
might  show.  Meg,  as  the  elder,  she  had  ex- 
pected would  develop  her  tastes  and  inclinations 
before  the  others  ;  but  she  watched  for  her  dawn- 
ing talent  in  vain.  She  was  generally  bright 
and  capable,  but  her  forte  seemed  to  be  in  help- 
ing her  mother.  When  she  was  fourteen,  be- 
tween lesson  hours  she  took  entire  charge  of  the 
dining  table.  (Molly's  boarding-house,  perhaps 
I  should  have  stated,  had  assumed  large  and 
handsome  proportions,  and  was  widely  known. 
She  had  been  able  to  buy  the  house  and  build 
on  to  it.)  She  arranged  the  fruit  and  flowers 
for  breakfast  with  rare  taste,  and  introduced  all 
sorts  of  pretty  fancies.  The  napkins  were  al- 
ways changed  regularly,  and  the  table-cloth  was 
spotless  and  without  creases,  under  Meg's  super- 
intendence. This  one  duty,  which  she  could 
trust  with  utmost  confidence  to  her,  was  a  great 
relief  to  Molly,  small  as  it  was. 


MOLLY'S  PLANS  FOR  MEG.  227 

Then  the  little  girl's  delight  was  to  assist  in 
kitchen  work ;  she  could  make  meringue,  whip 
cream  solid,  and  arrange  salad  as  well  as  any 
grown  woman.  Molly  was  delighted  to  see  these 
womanly  tastes  develop,  and  yet  as  years  went 
on  and  Meg  only  grew  more  expert  as  a  cook, 
and  showed  no  taste  for  the  arts  by  which  her 
mother  had  hoped  she  would  be  able  to  make  a 
living,  she  was  disappointed.  Of  course,  she 
confided  her  trouble  to  Mrs.  Welles,  who  made 
light  of  it. 

"  I  don't  think  you  need  worry,  Molly,  about 
Meg's  livelihood ;  so  pretty  a  girl  will  be  mar- 
ried before  you  can  look  round.  I  think  I  've 
seen  more  than  one  young  man  at  church  pay 
more  attention  to  Meg  than  to  his  prayer-book." 

"  Oh,  but  it  is  against  all  my  ideas  and  prin- 
ciples to  bring  a  girl  up  only  to  marry.  Know- 
ing something  by  which  she  may  earn  a  living 
will  not  prevent  that,  and  if  anything  happens 
to  me  I  want  her  to  be  independent." 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  my  dear,  while  I  think 
something  is  quite  as  likely  to  happen  to  Meg 
herself  as  to  you,  if  anything  did,  Meg  could 
carry  on  your  business  just  as  well  as  you,  and 
make  a  home  for  her  brother  and  sister."  J 

1  This  is  no  exaggeration.  I  know  of  one  young  girl  under 
twenty,  who  had  been  brought  up  to  help  her  mother  who  had 
had  for  years  a  large  and  fashionable  boarding-house  on  Fifth 


228  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

"  I  believe  she  would  be  quite  able,"  laughed 
Molly ;  "  but  as  I  don't  mean  to  die,  if  I  can  help 
it,  until  Kate  is  grown  up,  I  prefer  Meg  to  know 
how  to  make  a  living  independent  of  me.  And 
neither  she  nor  I  can  decide  what  she  is  most 
fitted  for." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  letting  her  go  through 
the  cooking  school  ?  We  may  teach  her  every- 
thing between  us,  but  we  could  not  so  well  teach 
her  to  teach,  as  she  would  be  taught  in  going 
through  the  regular  drill." 

"  I  have  thought  of  it,  and  Meg  takes  to  the 
idea.  I  don't  know  any  field  of  woman's  work 
where  there  is  so  much  room." 

"  Wrell,  then,  if  you  desire,  let  her  learn  all 
she  can  in  the  New  York  schools,  then  trust  her 
to  Cuthbert  and  me,  and  when  we  go  to  London 
next  year  we  will  let  her  go  through  South  Ken- 
sington. She  will  then  be  able,  should  she  not 
marry,  to  open  a  training  school  of  her  own." 

Molly  gladly  assented  to  the  plan,  and  on  con- 
sulting Meg  found  her  quite  willing,  her  only 
objection  being  to  leaving  her  mother  for  so  long 
a  time  while  she  studied ;  but  Molly  succeeded 
in  comforting  her  on  this  head,  and  that  fall 
Meg  began  to  go  to  the  city  for  lessons. 

Avenue,  New  York.  On  the  sudden  death  of  the  mother,  the 
young  girl  stepped  into  her  place  and,  young  as  she  is,  I  hear 
the  house  still  goes  on  its  prosperous  way. 


MOLLY'S  PLANS  FOR  MEG.  229 

As  the  time  came  for  Meg  to  leave  with  Mrs. 
Welles  for  Europe,  Molly's  courage  almost  gave 
way.  How  could  she  spare  her  ?  Only  now 
did  she  realize  how  dear  and  helpful  her  elder 
daughter  was :  how  little  thought  she  had  ever 
had  for  herself,  and  how  she  had  clung  to  her 
mother,  seeming  instinctively  to  know  when  she 
was  sad,  even  at  the  earliest  age,  and  would 
slide  her  little  hand  in  Molly's,  without  a  word. 
All  these  endearing  little  ways  she  had  retained, 
and  very  few  mothers  and  daughters  were  so 
much  to  each  other  as  Molly  and  Meg. 

And  yet  there  came  a  reason  which  reconciled 
Molly  to  the  parting.  For  some  time  there  had 
been  two  or  three  young  men  trying  to  be  atten- 
tive to  Meg,  which  Molly  had  quietly  observed 
and  ignored  ;  but  as  time  went  on,  another,  who 
seemed  bolder  and  more  persevering,  appeared 
on  the  scene,  and  as  his  attentions  became  more 
marked,  Molly  thought  it  an  excellent  thing 
that  her  daughter  was  going  away.  George 
Milne,  the  young  man  who  seemed  bent  on  be- 
coming her  son-in-law,  was  one  that  even  an  am- 
bitious mother  might  have  approved.  He  was  a 
physician  who  had  come  to  Greenfield  to  assist 
Doctor  Price,  and  within  a  year  the  old  doctor 
and  Molly's  dear  friend  died. 

Doctor  Milne  had  been  so  successful  that  he 
found  himself  at  eight-and-twenty  with  a  fine 


230  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

practice  and  a  growing  reputation  outside  of 
Greenfield,  for  he  had  written  some  excellent 
papers  on  the  treatment  of  the  ear,  which  had 
been  well  spoken  of  in  medical  circles. 

But  in  spite  of  this,  Molly  felt  that  Meg  ought 
to  see  more  of  the  world  before  her  affections 
were  engaged.  She  fancied  she  had  seen  that 
Meg  treated  Doctor  Milne  differently  from  oth- 
ers who  fluttered  round  her.  She  was  less 
frankly  unreserved  with  him,  and  once  or  twice 
when  Molly  had  mentioned  his  name,  watching 
her  daughter  as  she  did  so,  she  saw  the  sweet 
color  rise  in  her  cheek,  and  that  she  made  an 
excuse  to  speak  of  something  else.  These  Molly 
knew  were  signs  of  interest  that  Meg  displayed 
for  no  other.  But  as  yet  her  mother  thought  it 
was  but  a  passing  fancy,  that  her  journey  to  Eu- 
rope would  cure.  Molly  forgot  how  prone  an 
innocent  girl  is  to  hero-worship  ;  how  easy  it  is 
to  make  a  hero  of  a  good-looking  young  man, 
whose  praises  she  hears  on  all  hands  ;  of  whose 
disinterested  kindness  to  the  sick  poor  she  is 
well  aware.  No  wonder  sweet  Margaret  Bishop 
felt  her  heart  flutter  when  Doctor  Milne  seemed 
to  single  her  out  for  attention.  It  seemed  al- 
most like  a  dream  to  her,  and  she  feared  her 
vanity  was  leading  her  astray  when  she  fancied 
his  dark  eyes  sought  hers  far  more  frequently 
than  was  necessary. 


DR.  MILNE  SPEAKS.  231 

But  all  such  innocent  doubts  were  suddenly 
ended  one  morning  as  she  was  coming  from  mar- 
ket, just  a  week  before  she  was  to  sail  for  Liver- 
pool. She  had  an  errand  which  took  her  some 
little  distance  out  of  the  town,  and  as  she  was 
returning  homeward,  a  doctor's  buggy  passed 
her.  A  hundred  yards  ahead  it  stopped,  Doctor 
Milne  sprang  out  on  the  grassy  roadside,  and 
the  buggy  was  driven  slowly  on. 

For  a  moment  Meg  looked  with  a  vague  curi- 
osity, wondering  why  the  doctor  stopped  where 
there  was  no  house.  It  was  not  till  he  was  ap- 
proaching her  with  rapid  steps,  and  she  saw  the 
greeting  smile,  that  she  realized  he  had  seen  her 
and  had  stopped  on  purpose  to  speak  to  her.  It 
did  not  even  then  dawn  on  her  that  he  had  any 
motive  in  seeking  her.  It  was  certainly  very 
pleasant  to  be  singled  out  for  such  special  atten- 
tion from  her  hero  ;  beyond  this  she  did  not 
think. 

"  Miss  Bishop,  I  heard  only  last  night  that 
you  are  going  away,"  he  said,  rather  eagerly, 
"  and  —  and  there  is  something  I  have  to  say 
to  you.  You  must  excuse  my  being  so  abrupt, 
but  I  could  not  let  you  go  without  speaking." 

He  had  turned  and  was  walking  by  her  side. 
Meg  was  silent ;  her  heart  fluttered  wildly,  she 
hardly  knew  why,  and  she  did  not  know  what  to 
think.  It  could  not  be  possible  that  —  oh,  it 


232  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

could  not  be  possible !  such  an  insignificant  girl 
as  herself ! 

But  it  was.  The  next  moment  he  had  recov- 
ered from  his  momentary  embarrassment,  and 
was  telling  her  with  rapid,  eager  words  how  he 
loved  her  and  wanted  her  for  his  wife ;  how  he 
had  meant  to  wait  and  let  her  know  him  better, 
but  when  he  heard  of  this  intended  trip  he  did 
not  dare  to  wait.  Now  might  he  go  with  her 
and  speak  to  her  mother  ? 

What  Meg  said  she  did  not  know  herself,  so 
of  course  I  cannot  tell.  She  was  filled  with  joy- 
ful pride,  and  she  really  did  not  know  whether 
the  feeling  she  had  for  Doctor  Milne  was  any- 
thing but  this  or  not. 

The  doctor  was  not  nearly  so  inexperienced  as 
she  was,  and  was  not  too  much  discouraged  by 
her  manner.  He  saw  the  dewy  light  in  her  eyes 
and  the  heightened  pink  flush,  and  knew  that  he 
was  not  distasteful  to  her;  she  was  merely 
overcome  by  the  unexpected. 

"  You  don't  dislike  me,  at  least  ?  "  he  asked, 
not  in  the  smallest  doubt  as  to  the  answer. 

"  Oh,  no,  no,"  — and  the  warmth  of  the  denial 
spoke  volumes. 

"  Then  I  am  satisfied.  I  will  not  see  Mrs. 
Bishop  now,  but  may  I  come  to-night  ?  " 

Meg  drew  a  breath  of  relief ;  that  was  just 
what  she  wanted  —  a  quiet  hour  with  her 
mother,  and  time  to  think  of  things. 


DR.  MILNE  SPEAKS.  233 

"Then  I  will  leave  you  now."  He  pressed 
her  hand  and  left  her. 

Somehow  Meg,  who  had  not  dreamed  of  being 
lonely  before,  now  felt  suddenly  alone,  as  if 
something  warm  and  pleasant  had  fallen  from 
her. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

MOLLY'S  DECISION. 

MEG  slipped  into  the  house  when  she  reached 
home  and  went  to  her  room.  She  did  not  want 
to  see  even  her  mother  until  she  had  had  time  to 
think,  and,  above  all,  to  wonder  —  after  all,  a 
great  wonder  !  How  it  could  be  possible  that  he 
loved  her  and  wanted  her  to  be  his  wife  was  her 
predominant  thought,  and,  amid  it  all,  she  tried 
to  find  out  what  was  her  feeling  towards  him. 
While  she  was  still  trying  to  make  out  that  it 
was  impossible  she  could  love  a  man  of  whom 
she  knew  so  little,  although  she  liked  him  — 
ah !  more  than  she  could  express  —  her  mother 
entered. 

"  Why,  Meg,  are  you  sick  ?  I  saw  your  hat 
down  stairs,  and  that  told  me  you  were  in. 
What  is  the  matter,  my  darling  ?  "  asked  Molly, 
anxiously ;  for  a  glance  at  Meg's  flushed,  but 
very  happy  face,  reassured  her  as  to  her  health. 

Meg  threw  her  arms  round  her  mother. 

"  Oh,  mother !     I  —  I  met  Doctor  Milne." 

"Oh!"  Molly's  "Oh"  was  one  of  sudden 


MOLLY'S  DECISION.  235 

enlightenment.  "  Then,  I  dare  say,  I  can  guess 
what  he  talked  about ;  but  tell  me,  all  the 
same." 

Molly's  arm  was  around  Meg  to  assure  her  of 
a  sympathizing  listener,  and  then  the  story  was 
told. 

"  Well,  darling,  and  so  he  is  coming  to  see  me 
to-night?" 

"  I  think  so,  mother  dear." 

"  I  suppose,  Meg,  you  don't  card  for  me  to 
say  '  yes '  to  him  ?  "  asked  Molly,  with  a  steady 
mouth,  but  a  smile  in  her  eyes. 

Meg  started.  It  had  not  occurred  to  her  that 
her  mother  might  wish  her  to  refuse  him.  The 
very  moment  that  idea  came  to  her,  she  was 
very  sure  she  could  not  do  it. 

"  I  don't  know.  I  like  him  better  than  any 
one  I  ever  saw ;  and,  oh !  he  is  so  good." 

Molly  laughed. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  what  I  have  to  say  about  this, 
Meg.  Doctor  Milne  is  very  nice  and  very  suit- 
able ;  but  you  know  nothing  of  his  disposition, 
nor  he  of  yours.  I  could  not  let  you  engage 
yourself  to  him.  You  have  seen  too  few  men ; 
but  if  —  when  you  return  from  Europe  and  have 
carried  out  our  plans,  just  as  if  there  was  no 
Doctor  Milne  —  he  still  wants  you  and  you  care 
for  him,  then  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  say,  *  Bless 
you,  my  children  !  ' 


236  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

Meg  was  silent,  and  Molly  said :  — 

"  What  do  you  think,  dear  ?  " 

Meg  gave  a  little  sigh. 

"Whatever  you  say  is  best  will  be  best, 
mother." 

But  when  Doctor  Milne  came  that  night  and 
heard  Molly's  decision,  he  was  by  no  means  so 
docile.  It  was  very  hard,  he  said,  to  wait  a 
year  in  uncertainty;  but  even  when  (being 
more  reasonable  and  thoughtful  than  most  men 
of  his  age)  Molly  had  brought  him  to  see  that  it 
was  best,  both  for  himself  and  Meg,  that  she 
should  see  more  of  the  world  and  know  her  own 
mind,  he  yet  could  not  agree  to  the  necessity  of 
her  proposed  course  of  study. 

"  Dear  Mrs.  Bishop,  surely  such  a  course  is 
not  necessary.  Margaret  lets  me  hope  she  will 
be  my  wife.  I  shall  not  change,  and  it  is  my 
dearest  hope  that  absence  will  not  lessen  her 
liking  for  me.  Why,  then,  need  she  prepare 
for  a  single  life  ?  " 

Molly  laughed. 

"  She  is  by  no  means  doing  so.  Mrs.  Welles 
prepared  for  and  began  a  successful  career, 
which  did  not  prevent  her  marriage,  and  she  is, 
in  every  way,  a  gainer  by  the  experience.  Then 
I  must  remind  you  that  Meg  will  not  be  engaged 
to  you.  You  must  not  even  attach  too  much  im- 
portance to  her  liking  for  you  —  she  has  seen  so 


MOLLY'S  DECISION.  237 

few  men  —  and  she  must  go  away  without  the 
shadow  of  a  tie." 

"  I  think  that  is  hard,  Mrs.  Bishop.  I  as- 
sure you,  if  Meg  engages  herself  conditionally  to 
me,  I  will  make  no  reproaches  should  she  find 
some  one  on  her  travels  that  she  prefers ;  or  if 
she  does  not,  and  yet  cannot  marry  me,  I  shall 
acquiesce  in  what  she  thinks  best  for  her  happi- 
ness. If  you  consent  to  this,  it  will  give  me 
some  feeling  of  happiness,  and  will  not  tie  her." 

But  Molly  was  firm.  She  knew  Meg  too  well 
not  to  be  sure  that  even  a  conditional  engage- 
ment would  tie  her  conscience  and  cause  her 
acute  suffering  should  she  find  she  had  mistaken 
her  feelings,  and  she  was  also  firm  in  her  resolve 
that  Meg  should  go  through  her  appointed  stud- 
ies in  spite  of  Doctor  Milne's  protest. 

"If  my  daughter  becomes  your  wife,  and, 
later,  anything  happens  to  reduce  your  means  or 
you  die,  she  will  not  find  herself  like  so  many 
women,  with  no  one  thing  they  can  do  thoroughly 
well.  It  is  my  belief,  if  any  woman  knows  one 
art  thoroughly  well,  she  will  never  lack  the 
means  of  living,  even  if  her  art  be  only  that  of 
knitting  or  crocheting." 

"  But  my  wife  will  be  well  provided  for,  even 
should  I  die  within  a  year  of  our  marriage." 

"  Well  and  good  ;  but  she,  or  any  woman,  will 
be  the  better  for  what  she  will  know." 


238  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

When  Molly  spoke  in  this  tone,  any  one  with 
the  smallest  discrimination  knew  that  further  ar- 
gument was  useless. 

Mrs.  Welles,  who,  of  course,  had  been  told  of 
Meg's  new  prospects,  agreed  with  her  mother  in 
thinking  no  change  should  be  made  in  their 
plans. 

"  Of  course,  we  will  do  as  we  said ;  but  you 
may  be  quite  sure  Meg  will  be  Mrs.  Milne." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ?  I  have  ob- 
served her  closely,  and  really  think  she  has  no 
deep  affection  ;  that  her  pleasure  in  his  offer  is  a 
mixture  of  hero-worship  and  romance." 

"  Mothers  do  not  sometimes  see  so  far  as  oth- 
ers ;  but  of  one  thing  I  am  sure  :  a  man  like  Doc- 
tor Milne  does  not  come  into  the  life  of  a  girl 
like  Meg  and  go  out  very  readily.  I  don't  be- 
lieve the  flock  oijeunesse  dore,  with  whom  I  in- 
tend to  surround  her  in  Europe,  will  do  anything 
but  deepen  her  present  feelings." 

"  Well,  well ;  so  be  it !  I,  for  one,  shall  re- 
joice that  it  should  be  so.  Then  I  should  stand 
a  chance  of  having  my  dear  girl  always  near 
me." 

If  Molly  could  have  looked  into  her  daugh- 
ter's shy  heart  as  she  returned  Milne's  entreat- 
ing look,  when  he  begged  her  to  try  not  to  forget 
him,  by  one  of  reassurance,  she  would  not  have 
doubted  the  result  more  than  Mrs.  Welles  did. 


MOLLY'S  DECISION.  239 

About  John's  bent,  Molly  was  not  long  in 
doubt.  It  had  been  a  keen  desire  with  her  that 
her  son's  taste  and  talents  should  incline  him  to 
the  profession  of  a  civil  engineer.  She  watched 
him  from  babyhood,  and  hoped  to  see  him  dis- 
play some  preference  for  mechanics.  She  read 
articles  herself  (and  talked  afterward  to  him)  011 
the  wonders  of  engineering  science ;  but  she 
could  never  arouse  the  least  enthusiasm  in  him. 
He  listened  restlessly,  and  eagerly  waited  for 
something  more  interesting.  Molly  sighed  to 
think  her  dear  wish  would  be  thwarted. 

"  Why  are  you  so  anxious  for  John  to  be  an 
engineer  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Welles. 

"  Long  before  I  ever  knew  I  should  have  a 
son,  I  thought  it  was  the  noblest  profession  a 
man  could  have.  Even  now  I  thrill  with  enthu- 
siasm when  I  read  of  its  great  achievements.  It 
seems  to  me,  too,  to  open  a  career  that  depends 
on  talents  and  work  done,  with  which  chance  or 
luck  has  less  to  do  than  with  most  others.  Then 
I  have  always  observed,  too,  wherever  one  meets 
a  civil  engineer,  he  is  never  out  of  employment. 
I  remember  once  meeting  two  young  Irish  gen- 
tlemen, who  had  just  arrived  in  Canada  at  a  time 
when  everything  was  stagnant.  We  made  their 
acquaintance  at  the  hotel,  and  my  husband  and 
I  pitied  them,  fearing  their  high  hopes  and  small 
funds  would  soon  be  exhausted,  and  that  they 


240  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

would  go  to  swell  the  crowd  of  poor  young  fel- 
lows out  of  employment ;  but  instead  of  that,  be- 
fore the  week  was  out,  both  had  employment. 
They  found  there  was  no  opening  for  engineers 
till  spring.  Accordingly  one  went  to  a  patent 
lawyer,  and  was  immediately  employed  as  a 
draughtsman ;  the  other  got  surveying  to  do. 
Both  were  fairly  well  paid.  When  I  congratu- 
lated them  on  their  good  fortune,  one  of  them 
laughed  joyously,  and  said  :  — 

" '  Oh,  you  never  need  fear  for  an  engineer 
who  knows  his  work  in  all  its  branches,  and 
is  steady !  He  will  tumble  on  his  feet  wherever 
he  is.' 

"  Mr.  Bishop  recalled  several  instances  that 
bore  out  the  statement,  and  I  have  noticed  it 
since.  For  all  these  reasons  I  have  so  earnestly 
hoped  that  John  would  become  an  engineer 
that,  I  fear,  I  shall  be  terribly  disappointed 
should  he  not." 

"  Perhaps  if  he  begins  to  study  for  it  the  lik- 
ing may  come." 

"  Yes ;  if  he  shows  no  special  disposition  for 
anything  else,  and  seems  to  have  any  talent  for 
mathematics,  I  will  advise  him  to  choose  that 
profession ;  but  if  he  has  leanings  in  another  di- 
rection, I  will  not  venture  to  cross  his  tastes. 
That  is  too  dangerous  an  experiment." 

"  Not  even  if  he  wished  to  be  a  musician  or  an 
actor?" 


MOLLY'S  DECISION.  241 

Molly  hesitated.  She  had  no  prejudice 
against  either  profession  ;  indeed,  a  fine  musician 
or  great  actor  may  well  be  proud  of  his  art. 
But  the  lower  walks  are  so  low,  so  full  of  pit- 
falls, and  offer  so  little  future  to  manhood,  that 
Molly  felt,  without  knowing  just  how  to  say  it, 
that  nothing  less  than  the  drawing  of  undoubted 
genius  ought  to  justify  the  choice  of  either. 
John  was  fourteen  when  this  conversation  took 
place,  and  Molly  was  quite  sure  he  had  neither 
dramatic  nor  musical  genius. 

"  If  he  wished  to  be  either,  without  showing 
talent  of  the  most  marked  kind,  I  should  oppose 
those  professions  with  all  my  might  and  author- 
ity ;  but,  as  he  has  displayed  no  such  talent  yet, 
we  need  not  consider  them.  But  if  he  shows  a 
strong  desire  for  any  calling  to  which  he  is  fitted, 
I  shall  forward  his  views,  however  averse  I  may 
be ;  for  I  don't  want  a  young  man  of  twenty  to 
come  to  me  and  say  :  — 

"  '  Mother,  I  have  obeyed  you,  and  wasted  my 
time.  I  can  never  be  anything  but  what  I 
wanted ! ' " 

About  this  time  a  professor  of  chemistry  was 
engaged  at  the  school  John  attended  to  lecture 
and  illustrate  by  experiment  the  science  of  chem- 
istry. This  was  the  first  thing  in  which  John 
seemed  to  become  deeply  interested.  From  that 
time  Molly  lived  in  dread  of  being  blown  up. 


242  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

More  than  once  miniature  explosions  had  led  to 
her  forbidding  further  experiments,  which  would 
be  rescinded  when  he  told  her  he  was  going  to 
do  something  as  safe  as  blowing  soap  bubbles, 
and  read  the  innocent  directions  from  a  book  on 
elementary  chemistry ;  and  then  would  follow 
days  with  hands  stained  by  acids  and  gaseous 
odors  filling  the  basement,  to  a  spare  room  of 
which,  he  and  his  hobby  had  been  relegated. 
At  last  Molly  compromised  the  matter  by  telling 
him  that  if  he  did  not  dabble  with  chemicals  un- 
til he  really  understood  them  she  would  get  him 
special  instruction  ;  and  when  assured  that  he  was 
in  no  danger  of  blowing  himself  up  she  would 
fit  him  up  a  small  laboratory,  provided  his  ardor 
had  not  meanwhile  evaporated. 

Molly  had  known  so  many  boys  with  hobbies 
which  were  ridden  ardently  for  a  few  months 
and  then  dropped  into  the  limbo  of  forgotten 
things,  that  she  fully  expected  John's  craze  to 
be  as  transient ;  yet,  as  the  knowledge  would  al- 
ways be  valuable,  she  made  arrangements  for 
him  to  have  extra  lessons,  just  as  she  would  have 
bought  him  a  bicycle  as  a  thing  innocent  in  it- 
self, useful  for  development,  and  a  pleasure  to 
him,  little  dreaming  that  in  the  boy's  hobby 
might  lie  his  life-work. 

She  who  had  watched  keenly  for  signs  and 
portents  did  not  recognize  this  for  a  sign  when 


MOLLY'S  DECISION.  243 

she  saw  it,  because  she  had  not  been  thinking  of 
chemistry  as  a  possible  profession  ;  and  yet  when 
his  instructor  later  on  told  her  that  her  son  was 
an  enthusiast  in  the  science,  and  would  certainly 
make  an  admirable  chemist,  she  could  but  ask 
herself,  why  not  ?  There  was  certainly  no  rea- 
son, except  that  she  had  never  happened  to  know 
of  a  boy  being  brought  up  to  be  a  scientific 
chemist. 

She  consulted  Mr.  Welles,  who  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  if  the  boy  really  loved  the  science 
there  could  be  no  more  promising  career  open 
to  him.  "  It  is  not  overcrowded  by  brainy  men, 
and  brains  and  enthusiasm  will  as  surely  tell  in 
it  as  in  your  pet  engineering." 

And  so  John  became  a  student  of  chemistry, 
and  in  deciding  his  own  career  he  unconsciously 
influenced  that  of  Kate. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

MRS.    WELLES'S   PLANS. MEG'S   DIARY. 

MOLLY  had  begged  Mrs.  Welles  not  to  add 
in  any  way  to  the  allowance  she  had  considered 
sufficient  for  Meg.  She  had  somewhat  regretted 
that  her  daughter  was  going  in  company  with 
a  woman  of  large  means  ;  she  would  have  liked 
her  to  know  something  of  the  thrifty  life  a  stu- 
dent usually  has  to  live,  because  she  knew  in 
this  way  only  could  Meg  acquire  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  London  life  and  ways.  Living  in 
expensive  lodgings  Meg  would  never  do  this ;  but 
of  course  the  mother  could  not  quarrel  with  the 
opportunity  her  daughter  had  had,  and  therefore 
when  accepting  Mrs.  Welles' s  offer  Molly  only 
said,  "  She  is  going  under  too  luxurious  auspices ; 
I  wish  she  could  live  something  of  the  life  that 
you  and  I  did,  part  of  the  time  at  least." 

Mrs.  Welles  laughed  and  said,  "  I  don't  sup- 
pose Meg  will  quarrel  with  her  chances  of  enjoy- 
ing some  of  the  luxuries  of  London  life." 

Nothing  more  was  said ;  but  when  Meg  and 
Mrs.  Welles  had  paid  their  tribute  to  the  sea 


MRS.   WELLES' S  PLANS.  — MEG'S  DIARY.    245 

(for  both  suffered  seasickness),  and  could  begin 
to  believe  that  life  was  worth  living,  Mrs.  Welles 
told  Meg  of  a  project  she  had,  leaving  her  to  de- 
cide on  it.  Happily  Mrs.  Welles,  strong-willed, 
clear-minded  woman  as  she  was,  had  not  the 
manner  of  treating  young  people  as  if  they  could 
not  have  a  will  or  taste,  but  must  submit  them- 
selves entirely  to  their  elders,  —  a  manner  that 
is  always  exasperating  to  the  youthful  mind. 

"  Meg,  I  have  been  thinking  of  a  little  plan, 
and  Cuthbert  is  quite  willing  we  should  carry  it 
out ;  but  as  you  have  come  with  me  for  a  year's 
enjoyment  as  well  as  study,  I  will  do  nothing  to 
disappoint  you.  If  you  object  to  roughing  it, 
say  so,  and  the  plan  shall  drop.  Mr.  Welles,  as 
you  know,  has  to  go  to  Russia  to  see  to  affairs 
there,  and  may  be  away  some  months.  My  plan 
is  to  put  Lois  for  study  with  my  old  friend 
Madame  Ferani,  who  is  a  thorough  artist  and  an 
excellent  woman,  and  who  will  tell  me,  quite  re- 
gardless of  whether  she  will  thereby  gain  or  lose 
a  pupil,  whether  Lois  has  the  remarkable  talent 
she  seems  to  have,  or  not.  If,  after  a  trial, 
Madame  Ferani  thinks  it  worth  while  to  give 
her  more  than  the  usual  advantages,  I  shall  en- 
ter her  as  a  pupil  in  Madame  Ferani's  studio, 
and  arrange  my  own  course  according  to  it.  I 
had  some  thought  of  taking  a  furnished  house 
midway  between  the  studio  and  the  South  Ken- 


246  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

sington  Museum,  so  as  to  suit  you  both.  We 
could  then  lead  a  homelike  life,  see  friends,  etc. 

"  Now  it  is  only  the  latter  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme that  I  thought  I  would  alter.  Your 
mother  wished  you  might  live  just  the  old  life 
she  and  I  lived.  I  said  nothing,  but  her  words 
roused  old  memories,  and  the  idea  grew  upon 
me.  I,  too,  would  like  to  renew  my  youth  in 
that  way.  There  was  no  privation,  but,  of  course, 
no  luxuries  whatever.  We  used  to  plan  and 
economize  for  every  pleasure  we  enjoyed,  and 
yet  what  happy  days  they  were !  I  don't  care 
to  go  back  to  the  economy  unless  I  can  do  it 
just  in  the  old  neighborhood  ;  but  I  must  say  I 
would  like  to  see  if  Cambridge  sausages  and  pig- 
eon pies  will  taste  as  good  now,  eaten,  not  as 
part  of  a  meal,  but  as  the  meal  itself,  as  they  did 
when  they  were  rather  rare  luxuries,  being  more 
expensive  than  most  kinds  of  food." 

Meg  enjoyed  the  idea.  She  had  heard  her 
mother  talk  of  old  days  and  the  way  they  lived 
in  London  ;  the  many  little  economical  pleasures 
they  had,  until  that  part  of  her  mother's  life 
seemed  as  familiar  as  her  own  ;  and  she  had  al- 
most regretted  that  Mrs.  Welles's  means  made 
it  natural  to  lead  the  conventional  life  of  well-to- 
do  people. 

"  Then  that  is  settled.  We  will  go  to  the  Al- 
exandre  Hotel.  Dear  me,  don't  I  remember  its 


MRS.  WELLES' S  PLANS.  — MEG'S  DIARY.     247 

being  built,  and  thinking  what  a  very  luxurious 
place  it  was.  Luxurious  hotels  were  not  so  gen- 
eral when  I  was  a  girl  as  now.  Comfort  and 
dinginess  sufficed  then.  And  when  Cuthbert 
and  I  stayed  there  the  last  time  we  were  in  Lon- 
don, how  he  did  abuse  it !  and  certainly  it  did  not 
seem  anything  very  splendid  by  the  side  of  the 
more  modern  houses.  But  it  will  never  lose  its 
charming  situation.  The  front  windows  look 
into  Hyde  Park,  Rotten  Row,  and  the  Drive. 
That  alone  is  worth  a  great  deal ;  but  when  you 
sally  forth,  turn  to  your  right,  and  in  three  min- 
utes you  are  at  Hyde  Park  corner,  in  five  at 
Piccadilly.  Turn  to  your  left,  and  ten  minutes' 
walk  (if  you  can  resist  looking  about  you)  will 
take  you  to  South  Kensington  Museum. 

"  But,  delightful  as  the  situation  is,  I  should 
not  care  to  make  a  home  there  for  more  than  a 
few  days ;  so  I  propose  we  stay  there  for  a  week, 
and  from  there  look  out  for  lodgings  in  some  of 
the  smaller  streets  in  Kensington  or  Brompton, 
where  we  can  be  as  Bohemian  as  we  like.  Shall 
we  do  that  ?  " 

"  I  shall  be  delighted." 

And  the  more  Meg  thought  of  the  matter,  the 
more  delighted  she  was,  and  made  a  resolution 
to  keep  a  diary  for  her  mother  and  mail  it  once 
a  week.  This  she  began  on  board  the  steamer, 
and  continued  faithfully  all  through  her  stay  in 


248  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

London.  It  was  very  bright  reading  for  any 
one,  and  who  will  not  understand  the  pleasure  it 
was  (not  unmixed  with  tears,  however)  for  Molly 
to  read  of  Meg's  wanderings  in  the  neighbor- 
hood she  had  known  so  well ;  how  Mrs.  Welles 
pointed  out  their  favorite  bun  shop,  the  pastry 
cook's  where  they  had  bought  their  dainties,  the 
small  circulating  library  to  which  they  had  sub- 
scribed, and  told  her  how  few  of  these  had 
changed  hands  in  all  the  years  that  had  passed. 
She  even  described  how  the  young  woman  in  the 
pastry  cook's  who  used  to  be  called  the  "  Knights- 
bridge  beauty"  had  become  a  still  coquettish 
spinster,  who  wore  her  hair  in  exactly  the  same 
way  as  when  Molly  had  admired  her,  only  that 
the  tendril-like  locks  that  had  made  her  youth- 
ful brow  so  charming  made  the  faded,  sunken 
temples  look  still  older.  All  the  pretty  little 
ways  she  had  had,  Mrs.  Welles  said  she  had 
still,  only  somehow  they  did  not  look  so  pretty 
at  forty  as  at  twenty  or  so. 

All  this  and  very  much  more  Molly  read  in 
that  dear  diary,  with  tears  and  smiles.  But  this 
part  of  their  experiences  followed  some  time 
after  her  settlement  in  London,  although  quite 
as  amusing  was  the  account  of  their  life  on  ship- 
board and  their  landing. 

"  You  remember,  dear  mother,"  wrote  Meg 
from  Liverpool,  "  dear  Aunt  Charlotte's  sensi- 


MRS.    WELLE S'S  PLANS.  — MEG'S  DIARY.    249 

tiveness  about  the  English  climate,  how  she  pro- 
tested against  Mr.  Welles's  abuse  of  it.  Well, 
she  has  given  in  at  last,  and  declares  she  will 
never  defend  it  again,  it  did  serve  her  such  a 
bad  trick.  The  day  before  we  landed  was  so 
lovely !  There  was  a  party  of  young  girls  on 
board,  enthusiastic  about  everything,  and  as 
every  bit  of  land  with  a  well-known  name  came 
in  view,  they  had  a  bit  to  quote  or  a  novel  to 
refer  to  in  which  it  was  mentioned,  and  Mrs. 
Welles  was  delighted  with  them.  We  came  in 
sight  of  the  Skelligs  about  ten  o'clock  at  night, 
but  as  there  was  a  lovely  moon  they  were  visible, 
and  these  girls  were  in  raptures. 

"  '  Oh,  there  are  the  Skelligs  !  we  are  really 
"  Off  the  SkeUigs  "  ! '  Then  followed  a  discus- 
sion about  Jean  Ingelow's  most  delightful  book. 
And  the  next  day  Snowdon  and  the  Great  Orme's 
Head  were  greeted  with  equally  delighted  recog- 
nition. 

"  '  And  is  n't  the  weather  perfect !  Why,  I 
did  not  know  they  ever  had  such  weather  as  this 
in  England !  ' 

"  Mrs.  Welles  looked  on  with  glistening  eyes 
of  triumph,  and  said :  '  No,  I  suppose  Americans 
believe  the  sun  never  shines,  and  we  never  see 
a  blue  sky  until  we  leave  our  own  country.  I 
wonder  they  never  ask  themselves  how  it  is  that 
roses  and  many  other  flowers  never  attain  such 


250  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

perfection  anywhere  else  ;  and  let  me  tell  you  if 
you  are  in  London  in  spring  you  will  find  rhodo- 
dendrons and  other  American  plants  in  such 
glorious  beauty  as  you  never  saw  out  of  doors 
in  their  native  land.' 

"  I,  too,  gloried  a  little  in  the  fact  that  Old 
England,  which  is  dear  to  me  because  you  love 
it  so,  was  showing  herself  so  beautiful  to  us. 
As  we  approached  Liverpool,  Mr.  Welles  in- 
formed us  that  there  was  every  chance  of  our 
landing  in  the  afternoon  ;  the  captain  was  mak- 
ing every  effort.  We  had  hardly  hoped  for  it, 
but  as  the  news  grew  more  certain  that  we 
should  be  in  time  to  cross  the  bar,  we  all  has- 
tened to  our  staterooms  and  got  our  things  to- 
gether. The  stewardess  stripped  the  beds,  and 
there  was  all  the  commotion  of  leaving  the  ves- 
sel, when,  lo !  in  a  minute  everything  changed. 
We  had  been  so  busy  below  that  we  had  not 
noticed  a  growing  darkness;  when  we  reached 
the  saloon  we  found  it  crowded  with  people  all 
cloaked  and  ready  for  shore,  with  their  hand 
baggage  around  them  ;  but,  instead  of  the  usual 
good-tempered  chatter  going  on,  all  were  in  a 
state  of  consternation. 

"  Mr.  Welles  went  to  see  what  the  trouble 
was,  and  came  to  tell  us  that  a  fog  had  fallen. 
I  did  not  realize  what  that  meant  to  us,  and  I 
laughed ;  for  I  really  was  anxious  to  see  a  real 
English  fog,  of  which  I  had  heard  so  much. 


WELLE S'S  PLANS.  -MEG'S  DIARY.    251 

" '  I  'm  much  afraid  we  shall  have  to  remain 
on  board  all  night,  after  all.' 

" '  What ! '  I  said.  '  And  we  are  all  ready, 
and  the  vessel  is  in  such  good  time  ! ' 

"  '  Yes ;  but  the  captain  thinks  the  tender  will 
not  be  able  to  find  us  in  the  fog.' 

"  And  so  it  turned  out ;  and  such  a  forlorn- 
looking  crowd  as  we  were,  with  our  light  bag- 
gage all  about  us,  until  ten  at  night,  when  word 
came  that  we  positively  could  not  land  !  Dear 
Aunt  Charlotte  was  so  vexed,  although  she  bore 
Mr.  Welles's  jokes  very  well.  And  such  con- 
fusion as  there  was !  — such  objurgation  of  stew- 
ards and  stewardesses!  — for  we  had  seen  all  our 
sheets  in  a  mixed  heap  in  the  morning ;  yet  the 
beds  were  remade,  and  they  pretended  that  they 
had  been  able  to  fish  out  the  sheets  that  belonged 
to  each  bed  ;  needless  to  say  we  slept  in  our  rugs 
that  night.  Next  morning,  when  the  fog  had 
partially  cleared  and  we  were  told  the  tender 
was  alongside,  and  had  gone  on  deck,  Aunt 
Charlotte  told  me  she  never  would  again  say  a 
word  in  defense  of  the  climate,  for  although  it 
had  '  cleared,'  we  could  not  see  people  at  the 
other  end  of  the  deck,  and,  when  I  looked  up,  I 
saw  in  the  sky  something  round  and  whitish  that 
reminded  me  very  much  of  the  way  the  lumps  of 
ice  looked  in  tumblers  of  water  at  the  hotel  ta- 
ble in  Cincinnati.  Don't  you  remember?  I 
could  hardly  believe  it  was  the  sun !  " 


252  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

And  so  on,  for  months,  came  this  diary,  and 
it  was  full  of  London  experiences ;  sometimes 
giving  a  full  account  of  a  cooking  lesson,  and, 
at  others,  little  details  of  their  own  lives,  —  how 
they  managed  to  have  little  dinners  and  suppers 
at  a  small  expense ;  how  an  art  student,  with 
whom  she  had  made  acquaintance,  managed  to 
live  on  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  week ;  the  little 
delicacies  she  cooked  in  her  own  room,  living 
ever  so  much  better  than  many  who  boarded 
cheaply,  but  yet  paid  double  what  she  spent. 
In  all  this,  Meg's  share  of  her  mother's  practi- 
cability was  shown  in  the  fact  that  she  gave  rec- 
ipes and  expenses  always  as  part  of  the  subject. 

Monday  evenings  Doctor  Milne  spent  with 
Molly.  It  was  the  day  Meg's  letters  usually  ar- 
rived, and  at  first  she  read  him  parts  of  them  ; 
then,  as  she  really  grew  fond  of  him,  she  read 
the  whole.  Mrs.  Lennox  and  her  family  often 
joined  them,  and,  as  the  diary  became  more  in- 
teresting, they  all  came  regularly.  But  as 
Molly  read  these  effusions  of  her  daughter,  she 
began  to  suspect  a  fact,  which  was  confirmed  by 
Mr.  Lennox's  saying :  — 

"  Your  daughter  need  not  have  gone  so  far  to 
find  an  avocation  ;  her  evident  vocation  is  resi- 
dent. The  girl  of  her  age  who  can  write  so 
graphically  as  that  is  going  to  do  something  with 
her  pen ! " 


MRS.   WELLES' S  PLANS.  — MEG'S  DIARY.    253 

Doctor  Milne's  eyes  kindled,  and  he  said 
quietly  :  — 

"  That  is  what  I  think.  This  is  too  valuable 
and  too  good  not  to  be  published." 

And  this  was  Molly's  opinion,  too  ;  and,  there- 
fore, we  will  dip  no  more  into  the  diary,  which 
Doctor  Milne,  with  Molly's  delighted  consent, 
began  at  once  transcribing  on  the  heavier  paper 
that  would  find  favor  with  a  publisher,  writing, 
as  all  aspirants  for  print  must  do,  "  on  one  side 
the  paper  only,"  so  that  when  Meg  should  re- 
turn, she  would  find  she  had  written  a  book 
without  knowing  it. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
KATE'S  VOCATION. 

KATE  had  been  the  one  delicate  member  of 
the  Bishop  family.  But  for  her,  no  doctor's  ser- 
vices would  have  been  needed,  and  year  by  year 
Molly  had  dreaded  that  each  would  be  the  last 
of  her  darling ;  but  after  her  seventh  year,  al- 
though they  had  all  grown  to  think  of  her  as  an 
invalid,  and  to  look  on  her  fragile  appearance  as 
a  sign  of  weakness,  as  a  matter  of  fact  she  grew 
strong,  and  had  as  few  ailments  as  others. 

Nevertheless,  she  had  been  so  tender  a  flower 
that  Molly  could  hardly  believe  she  was  to  have 
her  for  long,  and  never  found  courage  to  make 
plans  for  her  future.  Thus  she  was  allowed  to 
study  in  a  desultory  fashion,  not  altogether  un- 
satisfactory as  to  results. 

But  if  her  mother  did  not  dare  to  look  forward 
for  her,  she  did  so  for  herself,  and  from  the  age 
of  five,  when  she  announced  that  when  she  grew 
up  she  meant  to  keep  a  candy  store,  because  she 
would  then  always  have  change,  to  the  time 
when  she  said  that  she  would  be  a  dressmaker, 


KATE'S    VOCATION.  255 

was  always  planning  for  being  "  grown  up." 
This  last  decision  lasted  so  long,  and  the  child 
showed  such  skill  in  making  doll's  clothes,  that 
it  really  did  seem  as  if  her  own  judgment  was 
right,  especially  when,  as  she  grew  into  a  tall, 
slim  girl  of  fourteen,  she  arranged  her  own 
frocks  with  a  cleverness  that  insured  them  a  pe- 
culiar grace.  She  was  very  fond,  too,  of  arrang- 
ing the  drapery  of  Meg's  and  her  mother's 
dresses.  Sometimes  she  would  do  wonders  with 
a  shawl ;  and  as  Meg  grew  to  be  her  mother's 
right  hand  in  both  kitchen  and  dining-room,  so 
Kate  became  the  decorator  in  general  to  the 
house,  and  the  parlor  gave  evidence  of  her  grace- 
ful fancies. 

And  yet,  when  John  began  seriously  his  study 
of  chemistry,  Kate  was  his  sympathetic  compan- 
ion. She  helped  him  often  in  making  experi- 
ments when  once  his  mother  had  fitted  up  his 
promised  laboratory ;  and  when,  for  recreation, 
those  experiments  took  the  form  of  photography, 
she  helped  him  enthusiastically.  Not  a  whit  did 
she  mind  the  stained  fingers  if  she  could  flourish 
triumphantly  a  photograph  of  the  house,  taken 
by  herself!  Then,  one  after  another,  Molly 
and  all  her  friends  sat  to  the  young  artists,  John 
attending  to  the  camera  and  Kate  to  the  posing 
and  draping.  Sometimes  the  order  was  re- 
versed, and  John  posed  the  subjects  and  Kate 


256  MOLLY   BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

took  the  likeness  ;  but  there  was  always  a  good- 
tempered  outcry  at  this.  Such  dowdy  dresses 
as  the  women  seemed  to  wear,  with  ramrods  run 
down  them  from  crown  to  heel,  and  such  enor- 
mous hands !  The  men  fared  even  worse. 
They  stood  rigidly  at  "  ease,"  and  "  lounged  " 
like  wooden  men.  And  so,  at  last,  Kate  was  al- 
ways the  "  artist "  of  the  occasion. 

Very  soon  John  turned  his  attention  to  other 
interesting  things  that  his  profession  opened  up 
to  him,  but  Kate  only  grew  more  fond  of  the 
former  pursuit;  very  soon  she  began  to  ex- 
periment and  invent  little  improvements  for  her- 
self, and  her  photographs  gradually  passed  from 
the  first  crude  efforts  to  a  softness  and  clear- 
ness very  like  professional  work ;  and  some  said 
they  had  an  individuality  that  the  latter  rarely 
has. 

Kate  —  who,  of  course,  knew  all  about  Meg's 
love  affair,  and  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  Doctor 
Milne  —  contrived  to  do  her  sister  a  great  kind- 
ness at  this  time,  and  our  tender  little  mother 
winked  at  the  proceeding.  Of  course,  Kate  did 
not  hide  her  light  under  a  bushel  (what  genius 
of  fifteen  ever  does  ?),  and  the  family  portraits, 
taken  in  every  mood  and  manner,  were  sent 
across  the  water ;  then  those  of  their  neighbors 
and  friends,  and,  of  course,  among  them  one  of 
Doctor  Milne.  I  do  not  know  whether  Kate 


KATE'S    VOCATION.  257 

thought  that  this  would  be  very  precious  to  Meg 
or  not,  although  I  have  no  doubt  she  did  ;  but 
Molly  knew,  if  Meg  had  not  mistaken  herself, 
that  this  portrait  would  be  very  dear  to  her, 
although  she  avoided  seeming  to  think  there  was 
any  more  significance  in  it  than  in  sending  that 
of  Mr.  Lennox. 

This  taste  of  Kate's,  and  her  apparent  talent 
for  it,  led  Molly  to  wonder  whether  it  might  not 
be  a  desirable  career  for  her.  True,  she  had 
never  heard  of  a  woman  photographer;  but,  a 
few  years  ago,  one  never  heard  of  a  woman  doc- 
tor ;  and,  although  a  dozen  physical  reasons 
might  be  urged  against  the  latter  profession  for 
women,  she  could  not  see  one  against  photogra- 
phy. Before  saying  anything  to  Kate,  or  any 
one  else  about  it,  Molly  determined  to  consult 
one  of  the  best  known  New  York  photographers 
about  the  matter.  She  did  not  know  the  artist 
intimately,  but  she  knew  he  would  give  her  the 
information. 

Mr.  Marani  was  an  Italian,  and  he  listened 
courteously  to  what  Molly  told  him,  and  evi- 
dently attached  very  little  importance  to  what 
she  said  about  Kate's  talent ;  even  when  she 
showed  what  she  considered  Kate's  best  work, 
he  (after  looking  at  it)  only  said  :  — 

"  Yes,  there  is  evidence  of  artistic  taste  in  the 
posing,  and  even  the  photograph  is  very  good 
for  an  amateur  so  young." 


258  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

And  Molly  understood  at  once  that  he  did 
not  think  it  at  all  wonderful  for  an  amateur  of 
maturer  age. 

"  Yes,  it  is  quite  good ;  but,  to  be  candid, 
your  daughter  barely  knows  the  A,  B,  C  of  the 
art,  and  there  is  the  whole  alphabet  to  learn. 
Who  taught  her  so  far  ?  " 

"  No  one.  She  has  learned  by  experiment  all 
she  knows." 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Marani,  taking  up  the  photo- 
graph again.  "  That  makes  a  difference.  One 
who,  with  so  little  help,  has  taught  herself  so 
much  may  go  far." 

"  But  you  don't  think  there  is  any  reason  why 
a  woman  should  not  make  it  a  profession  ?  " 

"  Certainly  not.  The  best  photographer  in 
Naples  is  a  woman  !  Only  your  daughter  must 
not  think  the  battle  won,  even  after  she  has 
studied  for  years.  I,  to-day,  feel  that  my  art  is 
but  half  learned,  because  new  things  are  always 
turning  up,  and  vast  possibilities  lie  in  the  fu- 
ture, of  which  we  get  occasional  glimpses,  but 
cannot  seize,  although  every  artist  worthy  the 
name,  all  over  the  world,  works  to  reach  them 
every  day  and  hour." 

He  gave  her  information  as  to  what  kinds  of 
books  to  get,  and  where  she  might  be  able  to  ob- 
tain good  instruction  for  Kate.  For  this  he 
recommended  a  small  Italian  photographer,  of 
no  particular  reputation. 


KATE'S    VOCATION.  259 

"  He  knows,  just  as  well  as  I  do,  all  about  the 
taking  of  photographs.  He  was  my  assistant, 
but  he  has  no  artistic  taste ;  so  he  will  never 
make  a  name  —  never,  unless  he  finds  some  part- 
ner who  is  an  artist.  But  he  can  teach  all  the 
mechanical  part  and  the  effects  as  well  as  any 
one,  and  your  daughter  will  not  need  the  artis- 
tic part ;  that  can  never  be  taught.  If  she  has 
that  in  her,  she  will  make  a  good  artist ;  if  she 
has  it  not,  it  is  useless.  She  can  take  a  like- 
ness, but  she  could  never  make  a  good  picture  of 
it." 

Molly  left,  feeling  very  hopeful.  His  manner 
had  changed  directly  he  found  that  Kate  had 
worked  unaided.  Not  to  let  the  grass  grow 
under  her  feet,  and  wishing  to  have  some  certain 
news  to  take  home,  she  went  to  the  address  of 
Mr.  Nelli,  given  her  by  Marani,  and  talked  with 
him  about  her  daughter.  She  found  he  was 
only  too  glad  to  have  a  pupil.  He  was  married 
and  evidently  poor,  and  his  wife,  who  lived  on 
the  premises  (for  he  was  not  prospering  enough 
to  have  a  studio  in  a  fashionable  thoroughfare), 
acted  as  attendant. 

Mrs.  Nelli  was  a  pretty  and,  seemingly,  a 
very  silly  young  American  woman,  who  had, 
no  doubt,  been  married  for  her  beaux  yeux,  and 
brought  nothing  else  to  the  housekeeping.  The 
untidy,  dusty  little  lounge,  the  carpet  swept  only 


260  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY, 

in  the  centre,  her  own  dress  of  faded  pale  blue, 
with  shabby  ribbons  and  dirty  laces,  showed 
that,  without  the  glimpse  Molly  caught  of  a  once 
trim  little  shoe,  buttonless  and  untidy.  Her 
head  was  apparently  the  seat  of  her  vanity,  and 
all  the  time  she  had  for  personal  adornment 
was  evidently  bestowed  on  the  arrangement  of 
her  hair. 

Matters  were  soon  settled  between  them,  and 
when  Molly  reached  home  she  had  arranged  for 
Kate  to  go  into  town  daily  to  learn  all  she  could 
with  Mr.  Nelli ;  and  a  year  or  two  later  she 
would  try  to  give  her  further  advantages,  if  her 
progress  seemed  to  justify  it. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

"  ALL  'S   WELL   THAT   ENDS   WELL." 

TIME  passes  very  swiftly  to  busy  people,  and 
much  as  Molly  missed  her  dear  companion,  Meg, 
the  year  of  her  absence  rolled  rapidly  away,  and 
now  the  day  of  her  return  was  at  hand,  and 
every  one  was  busy  in  making  the  house  look 
festive  to  welcome  the  travelers.  Kate's  taste 
and  busy  fingers,  helped  by  generous  gifts  of 
flowers  and  srailax  from  Mary  Lennox's  now 
large  green-houses,  were  to  be  depended  on  for 
the  beautifying  of  the  rooms,  while  Molly  and 
John  and  Doctor  Milne  went  to  the  steamer  to 
meet  them. 

Molly  smiled  quietly  to  herself  to  see  how  en- 
tirely Doctor  Milne  considered  himself  one  of 
the  family ;  but  she  did  not  feel  uneasy,  for  if 
every  action  of  his  had  assured  her  he  had  not 
wavered  in  his  affection,  she  could  read  between 
the  lines  of  Meg's  letters,  and  knew  that  dis- 
tance and  absence  had  but  confirmed  her  affec- 
tion for  him.  Reluctant  as  Molly  had  been  to 
let  them  bind  themselves,  she  was  very  happy  to 
think  George  Milne  was  to  be  her  son-in-law. 


262  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

On  looking  back  over  her  life,  Molly  was  un- 
utterably grateful  for  the  blessings  she  had  en- 
joyed, and  this  marriage  seemed  the  culmination 
of  them  all.  She  would  have  her  daughter  living 
near  her,  prosperous  and  happy,  for  she  had  not 
a  doubt  of  Doctor  Milne's  ability  to  make  any 
well-disposed  woman  so,  and  above  all  women, 
Meg. 

A  year  in  the  "  teens  "  works  greater  changes 
than  at  any  other  age  in  life,  and  although 
Meg's  teens  were  almost  over  the  change  in  her 
was  very  great.  She  looked  prettier  than  ever, 
they  all  thought,  as  she  flew  to  her  mother  the 
moment  they  stepped  on  deck,  and  had  for  a 
few  seconds  no  eyes  for  any  one  but  that  dear, 
brave  mother.  John,  on  whose  upper  lip  com- 
ing events  were  casting  their  shadows  before, 
was  at  Molly's  side,  secretly  hoping  that  he  had 
grown  out  of  knowledge,  and  that  his  mustache 
(he  called  the  shadow  by  that  name)  would 
make  him  unrecognizable.  Doctor  Milne  waited 
patiently  in  the  background.  His  heart  leaped 
and  his  eye  brightened  as,  after  her  first  lovjng 
impulse  toward  her  mother,  Meg  looked  swiftly 
round  in  search  of  some  one  even  while  she  re- 
turned John's  greeting.  He  had  had  time  to 
take  in  the  change  in  her,  —  the  aroma  of  Eu- 
rope, as  it  were,  that  clung  to  her,  —  before  he 
moved  within  her  sight ;  then  he  caught  the 


"ALL  'S    WELL   THAT  ENDS   WELL.'1         263 

vivid  blush,  the  glad  light  that  came  to  her  eyes, 
and  knew  that  his  hopes  were  not  to  be  disap- 
pointed. 

All  the  way  out  to  Greenfield  he  had  Meg 
to  himself.  By  some  benign  chance,  the  car 
being  pretty  full,  they  had  to  take  seats  as  they 
could  find  them,  and  Meg  and  Doctor  Milne 
found  theirs  together.  Mrs.  Welles  and  Molly 
were  two  seats  before  them,  and  Lois,  John,  and 
Mr.  Welles  were  at  the  other  end. 

A  car  is  not  a  promising  place  to  make  love 
in,  especially  if  the  lady  is  modest  and  the  lover 
not  over  bold  ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  condi- 
tions, and  although  not  an  audible  word  had 
been  said,  when  they  left  the  car  they  under- 
stood each  other.  Doctor  Milne  made  this  clear 
to  Molly  by  his  triumphant  eyes  and  the  air  of 
possession  which  he  unconsciously  assumed. 

"  You  see,"  said  Mrs.  Welles  (she  and  Molly 
went  on,  leaving  the  rest  to  see  to  the  baggage), 
"  that  my  prophecy  has  come  true." 

"  Yes,  I  see ;  I  have  not  had  much  doubt  of 
it  for  some  months,  and  I  'm  thankful,  oh,  very 
thankful!" 

"  So  am  I ;  Meg  is  the  sweetest  of  women.  I 
always  believed  it ;  now  I  have  had  her  so  long 
under  my  wing  I  know  it.  But  I  must  say  I 
think  Doctor  Milne  is  worthy  of  her." 

When  they  reached  the  house  it  did,  indeed, 


264  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

wear  a  joyous  air.  The  steps  leading  to  the 
door  had  flowers  on  either  side ;  the  door  was 
wreathed,  and  beside  the  flowers  with  which 
Kate  had  decorated  every  nook  and  corner,  sev- 
eral of  Mrs.  Bishop's  boarders,  who  almost  al- 
ways became  her  friends,  had  sent  out  beautiful 
baskets  and  boxes  of  rare  fruit,  flowers,  and  can- 
dies ;  all  pleasing  to  Molly  as  a  testimony  to  the 
affectionate  respect  in  which  she  was  held. 

A  dainty  meal  (neither  dinner,  nor  tea,  nor 
luncheon,  since  it  was  served  at  four)  was  ready 
for  the  travelers,  who  had  been  kept  unusually 
long  on  the  dock  and  were  very  ready  to  do  jus- 
tice to  it ;  even  the  lovers  made  no  pretense  of 
not  appreciating  the  good  things  before  them. 

There  are  few  who  have  not  enjoyed  the 
merry  reunion  of  loved  ones  who  have  been  long 
parted,  and  this  was  perhaps  no  brighter  than 
many  another,  although  the  room  rang  with 
happy  laughter,  and  there  were  many  stories 
told  and  many  seemingly  witty  things  said. 
The  stories  repeated  would  be  flat,  and  the  witty 
things  poor  trash  to  be  told  in  cold  blood.  Wit, 
like  poetry,  often  lies  in  the  ear  of  him  who 
hears  it ;  and  with  these  happy,  joyous  friends 
of  ours  a  very  little  of  the  divine  afflatus  would 
go  a  long  way. 

But  although  happy  reunions  are  known  in 
most  families,  there  is  seldom  a  mother  so  over- 


"ALL'S   WELL   THAT  ENDS   WELL."         265 

flowing-  with  happiness  as  Molly  Bishop.  She 
has  always  been  grateful  to  Providence  for  her 
good  fortune,  but  in  this  last  year  all  had  turned 
out  so  well  that  she  was  made  very  humble. 
Why  had  every  blessing  been  showered  on  her? 
She  had  had  such  a  happy  married  life  as  few 
women  know;  then  her  children,  they  had  al- 
ways been  so  good  that  she  was  rather  deprecat- 
ing in  her  manner  to  other  mothers  whose  off- 
spring were  often  so  different.  It  had  almost 
seemed  like  exulting  over  them  to  speak  of  her 
own  children's  goodness.  And  then  the  pros- 
perity of  her  business,  —  had  many  women,  left 
as  she  was,  been  so  favored  by  fortune  ? 

Much  of  this  she  poured  out  from  her  full 
heart  to  her  girlhood's  friend,  Charlotte  Welles, 
when  the  two  were  closeted  together  that  even- 
ing. 

"  I  am  almost  frightened,  Chatty.  I  've  had 
such  a  prosperous  life  that  I  fear  some  calamity 
may  be  in  store  for  me  or  mine.  We  are  not 
meant  to  be  so  entirely  happy  in  this  world." 

"  That 's  just  what  we  are  meant  to  be,  my 
dear,  if  our  mean,  discontented  natures  would 
allow  us ;  but  if  you  are  uncomfortable  and  feel 
yourself  too  favored  by  fortune,  we  '11  put  it  an- 
other way  and  see  how  it  sounds.  You  were  a 
bright  young  girl,  with  all  a  young  girl's  yearn- 
ings for  pleasure  ;  but  you  had  a  dear,  half-in- 


266  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

valid  mother,  who  but  for  you  must  have  had  an 
attendant,  and  as  you  had  very  small  means, 
that  was  not  possible;  so  that,  instead  of  the 
usual  pursuits  of  a  girl  of  your  age,  you  were  al- 
ready tied  down  with  cares,  studying  hard  in 
order  to  meet  the  future,  but,  nevertheless,  per- 
forming all  the  duties  of  nurse  together  with  the 
hundred  things  a  daughter  would  do  and  an  at- 
tendant would  not.  Now,  this  is  not  the  picture 
of  a  gay  and  giddy  girlhood  "  — 

"  No,"  interrupted  Molly,  smiling;  "but  it  was 
a  very  happy  one.  No  one  ever  had  a  happier 
girlhood  than  I." 

"  Yes,  you  were  very  happy  ;  you  did  not  fret 
over  the  constant  self-repression.  I  don't  sup- 
pose you  were  conscious  of  it,  but  I  would  like 
to  know  how  many  girls  would  have  been  more 
than  dutifully  content,  and  would  not  have  en- 
vied the  freedom  and  pleasures  of  other  girls, 
from  behind  the  bars  of  their  cage,  —  in  other 
words,  the  windows  of  the  sick-room. 

"  Your  next  great  cause  of  happiness  (after 
your  poor  mother's  death,  and  the  loss  of  income 
which  you  had  always  been  prepared  for)  came 
in  your  going  out  as  governess  and  finding  a  tol- 
erable position." 

"  Oh,  a  very  comfortable  one  !  " 

"Nevertheless,  several  governesses  had  left 
at  the  end  of  three  months,  and  you  can't  deny 


"ALL'S  WELL  THAT  ENDS  WELL."        267 

that  it  took  all  the  time  you  had  to  fill  the  du- 
ties required." 

"  I  know ;  but  they  were  all  so  kind  to  me.  I 
was  alone  in  this  country  although  born  here, 
but  they  made  me  one  of  themselves." 

"  Yes,  but  they  got  more  out  of  you  than  a 
governess  ever  gives.  Why,  you  actually  used 
to  trim  Mrs.  Plummer's  bonnets,  write  her  let- 
ters, go  shopping,"  — 

"  Ah,  but  you  forget ;  I  was  never  asked  to 
do  anything  outside  of  my  duties.  The  rest  was 
doing  myself  a  pleasure." 

"  I  know,  dear,  I  know  all  about  it,"  said  Mrs. 
Welles,  her  eyes  resting  with  tender  affection  on 
Molly. 

"  Well,  then  you  married  the  most  beautiful 
young  man."  Mrs.  Welles's  voice  softened  as 
she  came  to  the  tender  spot  in  Molly's  memory. 
"And  there,  I  do  think,  you  had  cause  for  hap- 
piness. Dear  Harry  was  a  sweet  fellow ;  but 
every  woman  who  marries  the  man  she  loves 
thinks  that,  although  most  of  them  would  have 
allowed  the  treatment  of  his  family  to  mar  the 
perfection  of  their  lives.  The  outward  cir- 
cumstances of  your  marriage  were  not  brilliant ; 
you  had  to  work  hard  for  all  your  pleasure. 
Look  at  me  ;  I  have  been  a  fairly  happy  and 
fortunate  woman.  I  did  nothing  to  deserve  the 
easy  and  luxurious  life  I  have  led  since  my 


268  MOLLY  BISHOP'S  FAMILY. 

marriage.  But  I  confess  I  am  not  overpowered 
by  a  sense  of  my  own  unwortliiness,  nor  do  I 
dread  a  calamity  in  consequence.  Then,  dear, 
this  great  happiness  ended  so  soon  that  because 
it  was  so  great  you  might  well  consider  your 
loss  misfortune  enough  to  counterbalance  all 
great  blessings  since.  But  you  were  of  different 
stuff ;  you  did  not  make  a  moan  over  the  cruelty 
of  fate,  although  we  all  thought  it  was  cruel  for 
you.  Then  the  position  of  a  young  widow,  with 
two  young  children  and  posthumous  baby,  does 
not  seem  to  me  a  very  fortunate  one,  nor  the  life 
of  hard  work  and  unflagging  duty  you  have  led 
since. 

"  In  fact,  dear  Molly,  I  think  to  most  women 
the  story  would  seem  a  piteous  one  of  a  very 
hard  life,  full  of  troubles.  The  happiness  of  it 
has  been  in  you,  dear,  who  have  never  looked 
out  for  the  woe,  the  struggles,  and  hardships  in 
it,  but  only  for  its  blessings.  Above  all,  you 
have  never  taken  to  pitying  yourself.  Instead 
of  comparing  yourself  with  people  less  deserving 
but  better  off  (me,  for  example,  who,  though 
I  'm  good-natured,  never  have  been  called  upon 
for  self-denial),  and  wondering  why  you  should 
struggle  and  they  not,  as  most  of  us  do,  you  have 
compared  yourself  with  the  less  well  off,  and 
been  grateful. 


"ALL'S  WELL   THAT  ENDS   WELL."        269 

"  I  could  almost  preach  a  sermon  on  your  life, 
Molly,  and  the  text  would  be,  '  Work  hard  with- 
out thinking  it  hard,  and  that  "  will-o'-the-wisp  " 
perfect  happiness  will  come  without  seeking. 
If  ever  a  woman  reaped  the  harvest  she  has 
sowed,  that  woman  is  Molly  Bishop  ! ' ' 

Molly's  eyes  were  brimming,  her  lips  quivered 
at  this  true  friend's  words.  They  loved  each 
other  well,  although  they  did  not  often  say  much 
about  it.  It  was  sweet  to  find  Charlotte  thought 
so  well  of  her,  but  even  that  seemed  only  an- 
other instance  of  her  good  fortune  ;  she  had  even 
more  and  better  friends  than  most  people. 

The  story  of  Molly  Bishop's  struggles  is  told. 
The  calamity  she  feared  when  her  cup  seemed 
overflowing  has  not  overtaken  her  yet.  May  it 
never  be  more  than  the  shadow  thrown  by  the 
sun  of  happiness. 

Meg  lives  in  a  beautiful  home  near  -her 
mother,  and  is  as  happy  as  can  be. 

John,  who  believes  he  is  destined  to  do  great 
things  in  the  way  of  chemical  discovery  (and 
what  is  more  others  think  so  too),  is  very  con- 
stantly with  Lois  ;  and  Molly  and  Mrs.  Welles 
have  a  pleasant  conviction  that  their  friendship 
will  be  cemented  by  a  marriage  between  the  two 
families. 


270  MOLLY  BISHOPS  FAMILY. 

Kate  vows  she  will  never  marry,  but  will  stay 
with  her  mother  and  devote  herself  to  her  pro- 
fession. But  Kate  is  very  young  yet,  and  such 
resolutions  are  frequent  with  very  young  women. 


THE   END. 


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